May 08, 2020
Iwi winding down checkpoints
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One of the organisers of community checkpoints in the eastern Bay of Plenty is crediting Te Whānau ā Apanui’s wahine for their success.
The iwi is considering a recommendation from its medical advisors to disband the safety zones once the country moves to Level 2.
Willie Te Aho says any criticism of the iwi’s actions was offset by the staunchness of the hapū chairs and the essential hapū workers standing behind them.
"They’re all women. They're all women that are from our marae, they're all our women who engage with our pakeke 24/7, take phone calls at 3 o'clock in the morning when our pakeke are lonely. Their the ones who take kai to our pakeke and the most vulnerable', he says.
Meanwhile, Ngā Iwi o Taranaki are shutting down their community checkpoints.
Unlike other iwi which threw up roadside checkpoints during Level 4, the checkpoints were not established until the country moved into level 3.
North Taranaki iwi spokesperson Liana Poutu says they found a high level of inter-regional travel despite restrictions still in place.
Over the past 10 days, almost two-thirds of motorists at Patea and a third at Urenui came from outside the region.
She says the checkpoints were established to help keep COVID-19 out of Taranaki and encourage appropriate travel behaviour, educate travellers and reduce unnecessary travel.
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