Crews have kicked back into gear following the holiday season with road renewal works underway in the Manawatū-Whanganui region.
From Wednesday 15 January, road rebuild works will begin on a section of State Highway 54 (SH54) Kimbolton Road, near the intersection with Ridds Road.
This daytime road maintenance and drainage improvement work will be carried out over 12 weeks, and is expected to be complete by Monday 14 April.
Crews will be working between 6am – 7pm Monday to Friday, including some weekends (weather permitting). During the work, temporary traffic management will be in place 24/7.
Between 6am and 7pm, a section of SH54 will be down to one lane under stop/go traffic management, with a temporary speed limit of 30km/h. Delays of up to 10 minutes are expected. Outside of working hours, temporary traffic lights and a reduced speed limit of 30km/h will be in place at the site.
NZ Transport Agency Waka Kotahi acknowledges this work will be disruptive for some road users and appreciates people’s patience while this strengthening work is carried out to make the road more resilient.
Rebuilds involve the removal of the existing road surface and underlying road structure and replacing them with new materials. Rebuilds help improve the overall condition of our state highway network, resulting in stronger, more resilient roads.
Crews will also return in about 12 months to add the second coat of seal on this section of SH54 which waterproofs and further strengthens the road.
The 2024/2025 road renewal season
During the course of the renewal season, which typically runs between October to March when the weather is warmer and drier, it’s anticipated that 17 lane kilometres* of state highway in the region will be rebuilt. Crews have already completed a number of rebuilds on SH1, SH2, and SH54 (Vinegar Hill) so far this construction season.
State Highway 1, Bulls asphalting: Work has begun on SH1/High St in Bulls. A short section of High St is closed each night between 6pm – 6am, with a detour via Criterion St. Stop/go is also in place.
State Highway 56, Opiki rebuild: Work has begun on a section of SH56 in Opiki, between Alve Rd and the SH57 intersection. From 7 January to 7 March, daytime closures are in place each day between 6am – 6pm. The detour is via SH57 or SH1.
*Lane kilometres are the total length of lanes to be resealed or rehabilitated. For example, resealing both lanes of a 10 kilometre stretch of two-lane highway results in 20 lane kilometres.
A reminder that work begins on Monday at the site of the new State Highway 57/Tararua Road roundabout as the first stage of construction gets underway.
During the first stage of work, there will be no access from SH57 to the western section of Tararua Road and a detour will be in place.
Northbound road users will be detoured onto Queen Street East, and those travelling south will be detoured to SH1 via Kimberley Road. This will allow for traffic to steadily flow through SH57, minimising disruption on the highway.
There will also be a 30km/h temporary speed limit on SH57 near the site for the safety of road users and crews.
Crews will be working Monday to Friday between 6am and 6:30pm. Outside these hours, the detour and temporary speed limit will remain during evenings and weekends while the work is completed.
The detour and temporary speed limit are expected to be in place until June. Completion of the roundabout is expected towards the end of the year.
NZ Transport Agency Waka Kotahi and Horowhenua District Council (HDC) are working in partnership to build the new roundabout, which will improve safety at this busy intersection and provide a future connection to the new Ōtaki to north of Levin highway and Tara Ika growth area.
We acknowledge the traffic management in place is likely to cause delays and we want to thank everyone for their patience while we make the area safer.
Significant work continues in the Auckland suburb of Papatoetoe, with no signs of any further Oriental fruit flies to date, says Mike Inglis, Biosecurity New Zealand commissioner north.
“We have placed more than 100 extra traps in the area, and checking of all of them has not found any signs of other fruit flies so far,” Mr Inglis says.
“Specialist staff in our mobile laboratory, which is set up at our response base in Auckland, have been hard at work examining fruit and vegetables collected from within Zones A and B. They’ve processed more than 100kg of fruit so far and we’ve found no larvae or eggs, which helps to provide assurance that we are not dealing with a breeding population.”
Mr Inglis thanked the community for its efforts and sector groups for their support.
“We’ve surveyed more than 500 local properties and the fruit grown on them, and we’ll continue to talk to residents, local businesses, and groups, including attending local markets over the weekend to provide information to people. The response from the community is greatly appreciated.
“We have more than 150 people working on the response and a good system in place for how to do things thanks to the 12 previous times we have found and successfully eradicated different fruit flies in New Zealand,” Mr Inglis says.
Household labour force survey estimated working-age population: December 2024 quarter– information release –9 January 2025 –The household labour force survey estimated working-age population table shows the population benchmarks used to produce household labour force survey estimates for the upcoming labour market statistics release.
Te Tai Tokerau Northland will move into a restricted fire season from 8am on Friday 10 January 2025 until further notice.
A restricted fire season means anyone who wants to light an outdoor fire will need a fire permit authorised by Fire and Emergency, which can be applied for atcheckitsalright.nz.
Northland District Manager Wipari Henwood says very little or no rain is predicted in the region for the next 10 days, with strong southwest winds continuing.
“Grass is drying out and forecast spike days – where fire risk rises sharply – increase the difficulty of controlling fires quickly once they have started,” he says.
“As we have seen with recent fires, it takes a large number of our fire brigades, many of them volunteers, with supporting resources and aircraft to contain and control wildfires in Northland.”
Large wildfires such as the Waiharara fire in 2021/22 and near Cape Reinga in 2023 required huge resources to combat and control.
“It took eight days to extinguish the Cape Reinga fire at a cost of more than $1.5m, while the Waiharara fire burnt for 50 days at a cost of more than $10m,” Wipari Henwood says.
“It’s these sorts of fires which we are trying to avoid by implementing a restricted fire season now.”
The restricted fire season covers all of Te Tai Tokerau Northland including Muriwhenua, where a restricted fire season is already in place.
All Department of Conservation land on islands in Northland remain in a prohibited fire season, which means all outdoor fires are banned.
Animal rights organisation SAFE is reinforcing its call for the immediate release of the revised rodeo code of welfare following the deaths of two animals over the new year period.
The first fatality was of a horse used in the Taupō rodeo. The horse was exhibiting lameness following the event in Taupō on 29 December and was killed the following day.
SAFE Campaign Manager Emily Hall says the 23-year-old horse had likely endured years of exploitation in rodeo.
“No animal should suffer and die for entertainment” says Hall. This horse’s tragic death is yet another example of the mistreatment deeply embedded in the rodeo industry”.
The second death on December 30 occurred at the Te Anau rodeo, where a three-year-old bull’s hind leg was dislocated during the bull riding event. He was killed on-site.
“This bull’s leg literally came out of its hip socket” says Hall. “The pain and torment these animals are subjected to is absolutely appalling.”
SAFE asserts these most recent injuries and deaths are indisputable examples of rodeo being in breach of New Zealand’s animal welfare laws and underscore the urgent need for Government action.
“Our Animal Welfare Act states that any physical handling of animals must be done in a way that minimises the likelihood of unnecessary pain or distress, and rodeo practices clearly violate this legislation” says Hall.
“Animals forced to participate in rodeo are subjected to extreme psychological and physical trauma and we should have seen these barbaric events outlawed a long time ago”.
SAFE understands the National Animal Welfare Advisory Committee (NAWAC) drafted a revised rodeo code of welfare two years ago, however no further steps have been taken either by the NAWAC or Andrew Hoggard, the Minister responsible for Animal Welfare.
“These delays are costing animals their lives”. says Hall. “While NAWAC and the Animal Welfare Minister hold up progress on the revised code of welfare, animals are enduring unnecessary suffering at these brutal events.”
SAFE highlights that the physical pain and distress rodeo practices inflict on animals not only breaches their legal rights, but also goes against Kiwis expectations of animal welfare, particularly as rodeo is promoted as a family-friendly event.
“We continue to call attention to the significant disconnect between what the rodeo industry considers a sport, and the harm inflicted upon the animals in their care”.
“We were deeply concerned to discover that horse trainer Kurtis Pertab, who received a disqualification last year for abusing horses, has been participating in recent rodeo events across the country.” says Hall. “This is yet another indicator that rodeo clubs simply do not take animal welfare seriously enough”.
Following the Government’s 10 December announcement confirming a ban on greyhound racing, SAFE emphasises the similarities with animals being used and abused for the entertainment of a very small minority.
“Rodeo, like greyhound racing, has no place in a society that values compassion for animals” says Hall.
“No animal should have to endure extreme trauma or catastrophic injuries in the name of entertainment, and we are calling on NAWAC and Minister Hoggard to release the revised rodeo code of welfare as a matter of urgency.”
Changing airflows mean changing weather from here till March and, to quote our principal forecaster Chris Brandolino, “La Nina hasn’t gone away”. In short, it’s going to be mixed.
– There is an increased likelihood of more westerly quarter (SW to NW) winds than previously indicated. However, this pattern is expected to be interspersed with easterly quarter (SE to NE) air flows, especially during periods of La Niña-like weather.
– There is enhanced potential for rain events linked to the tropics and sub-tropics to impact the country from mid-January through to March. Apart from the west and east of the South Island, the rest of New Zealand has about equal chances for near normal or above normal rainfall for the coming three months.
– Air temperatures are likely to be above average for the North Island, with about equal chances for near average or above average seasonal temperatures for the South Island. The change in air flow patterns, as noted above, increases the odds for spells of cooler than usual summertime temperatures.
The juvenile/subadult dolphin, which was travelling with a fully grown dolphin, was first reported to DOC’s hotline on 29 December.
DOC Operations Manager, Kirsty Prior, says the team located the dolphin and its companion at 12:50 pm yesterday.
“The disentanglement team were able to get a working line with grapnel and floats on the animal. This allowed the team to bring the dolphin close to the boat and work carefully with specialist knives to cut it free by 1:54 pm.
“We monitored the area for several hours and can confirm the dolphin is free of the entanglement and swimming strongly.
“It will now likely take time to heal and rest after before moving out of the area. Please give the dolphins space during this time.
“We would like to thank everyone who called the hotline, the public were vital in helping our team do their job successfully”, says Kirsty.
Jocelin Friend from Te Kawerau ā Maki welcomed the invitation to be on the vessel and see the disentanglement take place.
“Te Wai Roa ō Kahu and Rangitōpuni awa are our ancestral waterways. Our duty as kaitiaki is to ensure our taonga species are treated with utmost care.
“I was impressed with how the team worked together swiftly, carefully and in respect of tikanga Māori to safely free the dolphin”, says Jocelin.
A reminder to everyone to stay vigilant on the water and keep their distance from marine mammals and to report any sightings to 0800 DOC HOT (0800 36 24 68).
KUALA LUMPUR, MALAYSIA – Media OutReach Newswire – 8 January 2025 – Gateway Development Alliance Sdn Bhd (“GDA“) and its shareholders (collectively, the “Consortium“) announced that as at 5:00 p.m. today, it has received valid offer acceptances of 1,385.5 million shares and a further 18.2 million shares have accepted the offer pending verification, together representing 84.1% of the total number of issued shares in Malaysia Airports Holdings Berhad (“MAHB“).
The encouraging level of acceptances by the First Closing Date, despite the intervening holiday period, moves the Consortium decisively towards satisfying the 90% acceptance condition and thus the threshold required to de-list MAHB pursuant to the Offer.
For shareholders who have yet to submit their acceptances, the Consortium wishes to highlight that the offer period has been extended from 8 January 2025 to 17 January 2025. Save for the extension, all other terms including the offer price of RM11.00 and the 90% acceptance condition remain unchanged.
RM11.00 offer price higher than any price MAHB has traded
GDA remains firm that its offer price of RM11.00 per share is highly compelling and attractive to shareholders (see Chart #11). RM11.00 is higher than any price MAHB has ever traded at and represents a 49.5% premium YTD2 and implies a Price-to-Earnings ratio of 37.7x3.
All 14 licensed equity research analysts that currently cover MAHB4 have target prices that are either lower than or equal to RM11.00, and most also explicitly recommend that shareholders accept the offer.
MAHB needs to address shortcomings to compete regionally
The Consortium reiterates its view that MAHB’s shortcomings in maintaining its core assets and systems, and prolonged history of underperformance both operationally and financially, will only be properly addressed if it is not constrained by a public market listing and is able to take a fresh approach.
A case in point is the Aerotrain at KLIA Terminal 1 which has suffered multiple service failures over the last 10 years and continues to be challenged by ongoing and unresolved issues. As it nears the second anniversary of total service suspension, the re-opening date remains uncertain.
The Consortium believes one of the root causes of MAHB’s issues is its continuous underinvestment in critical operational infrastructure and in projects to drive growth and expansion.
Over the last 5 years, MAHB spent RM1.3bn in capex compared to RM18.9bn by Singapore’s Changi, RM8.1bn by Indonesia’s Angkasa Pura and RM6.8bn by Airports of Thailand (“AOT”)5(see Chart #2).
This prolonged underinvestment by MAHB has resulted in an ageing asset base and led to a number of high-profile operational failures. Meanwhile, the passenger experience has deteriorated markedly, as noted by Skytrax whose ranking of KLIA has plummeted from 2nd best airport in the world in 2001 to 71st in 2024. MAHB’s airports are in urgent need of significant remediation and expansion capex.
Unsurprisingly, MAHB has been losing ground in the ASEAN aviation market. Over the last 10 years, KLIA has lost passengers while key regional peers have grown significantly6 (see Chart #3). This has resulted in MAHB’s market share declining from 20% to 16%7 (see Chart #4). Throughout this time, KLIA’s regional peers, including Changi Airport in Singapore and Suvarnabhumi Airport in Bangkok, continue to make significant investments to increase their capacity and further distance themselves from KLIA.
Operational challenges have contributed to MAHB’s financial underperformance
Over a 10-year period8, MAHB has consistently underperformed listed APAC peers across a number of key financial metrics (see Charts #5 – #7):
Moreover, MAHB’s dividend has remained stagnant over the last 10 years and MAHB distributed only RM0.11 per share in 2024. This implies a 1.0% dividend yield9, which is four times lower than the KLCI Bursa Malaysia Index10 and three times lower than the DJ Airports index11 (see Chart #8). The RM11 per share offer price compares to RM0.82 of dividends MAHB has paid over the past 10 years (see Chart #9).
Consortium committed to turnaround MAHB
As highlighted in the offer document dated 6 December 2024, the Consortium intends to upgrade and modernise MAHB’s operations, enhance passenger service, improve airline connectivity and stimulate traffic growth. The Consortium believes that such objectives will be best achieved by MAHB as a private entity, taking a long-term approach to decision-making and capital investment, and benefitting from GIP’s airport expertise.
With its combined resources, control of the board and without the constraints of a public market listing, the Consortium together with management will be able to expedite necessary capital investments and provide the requisite technical expertise to realise MAHB’s full potential.
This offer presents a compelling opportunity for MAHB shareholders to achieve immediate and attractive returns and GDA therefore encourages all shareholders who have not yet accepted the offer to do so before the revised closing time and date of 5:00 p.m. (Malaysian time) on 17 January 2025.
1 15 May 2014 to 15 May 2024. Source: S&P Capital IQ.
2 Year-to-Date, relative to MAHB’s closing share price on 29 December 2023 of RM7.36.
3 Based on RM11.00 offer price and MAHB’s latest audited consolidated annual financial statements.
4 As of 1 December 2024. Excludes Hong Leong Investment Bank Berhad and UBS, who were appointed as MAHB’s independent advisers
5 Currency conversion at spot rate as at the end of each calendar year 2019, 2020, 2021, 2022 and 2023.
6 Source: Company filings
7 Includes BKK and DMK.
8 Company filings, Bloomberg (excluding Covid period i.e. FY20-22)
9 Calculated based on RM 0.11 dividends per share in 2024 divided by the offer price of RM11.00.
10 KLCI Bursa Malaysia Index as of 13 December 2024.
11 Dow Jones Brookfield Airports Infrastructure Index – yield as per December 2024 fact sheet.
Hashtag: #GatewayDevelopmentAlliance
The issuer is solely responsible for the content of this announcement.
DENVER, Jan. 08, 2025 (GLOBE NEWSWIRE) — American Rare Earths (ASX: ARR | OTCQX: ARRNF | ADR: AMRRY) (“ARR” or the “Company”) is pleased to announce that its wholly owned U.S. subsidiary Wyoming Rare (USA) Inc (“WRI”)., has been granted a License to Explore by Dozing at the Halleck Creek Rare Earths Project in Wyoming, USA (“Halleck Creek”).
Highlights
License enables WRI to conduct test mining, trenching, and exploratory excavation, including collecting bulk material samples at the Cowboy State Mine project area within Halleck Creek.
Test mining will allow the company to procure the necessary volumes of ore to be processed at a pilot processing facility, a critical step in refining processing pathways and advancing toward commercial development.
Further demonstrates the State of Wyoming’s reputation as a mining-friendly jurisdiction.
Marks a key step forward in ARR’s strategy to establish Halleck Creek as a cornerstone rare earths project.
Strategic Importance
The ability to collect bulk samples is a pivotal step in advancing Cowboy State Mine at Halleck Creek’s development. Bulk samples are expected to provide feedstock for future pilot plant test work at the company’s recently acquired facility in Laramie, WY.1 This enables ARR to refine processing techniques and optimize project design.
Chris Gibbs, Chief Executive Officer, commented: “This approval is a testament to our team’s hard work and the collaborative relationship we have built within the State of Wyoming. Bulk sampling can allow us to advance pilot plant testing and strengthen the technical foundation for the Cowboy State Mine at Halleck Creek. This is a critical step forward as we work to unlock the project’s full potential. We’re committed to continue our work responsibly while meeting the highest environmental and community standards.”
Next Steps
These activities will play a crucial role in proceeding with pilot plant testing, metallurgical analysis, and process optimization, laying the groundwork for future project development.
ARR will continue to provide updates to shareholders as key milestones are achieved.
This announcement is authorized for release by the CEO of American Rare Earths.
American Rare Earths(ASX: ARR | OTCQX: ARRNF | ADR: AMRRY) owns Wyoming Rare (USA) Inc. which is focused on the development of the Halleck Creek Project, WY. It also owns La Paz, AZ rare earth deposit. Both can potentially become the largest and most sustainable rare earth projects in North America. The Company is developing environmentally friendly and cost-effective extraction and processing methods to meet the rapidly increasing demand for resources essential to the clean energy transition and US national security. The Company continues to evaluate other exploration opportunities and is collaborating with US Government-supported R&D to develop efficient processing and separation techniques of (REEs) elements to help ensure a renewable future.
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