August 03, 2020
Infrastructure spend up helping Chathams’ recovery
A $40 million spend up will improve infrastructure on the Chatham Islands, add to its attraction as a visitor destination, and create jobs.
The bulk of the money, $36 million, will go towards lengthening and strengthening Tuuta Airport, which Infrastructure Minister Shane Jones says will future-proof it for half a century.
The new runway will allow larger planes to use the airport.
Another $1.7 million is earmarked for two shellfish aquaculture projects, including a farm at Whangamoe Inlet that is expected to provide up to 20 jobs.
A half-million dollars will help establish a dedicated tourism manager to develop the islands’ tourism sector, and $1 million is coming from the one Billion Trees Programme to build or upgrade nine micro nurseries and to help restore indigenous flora and fauna to a coastal area that has been cleared and grazed for more than 100 years.
Mr Jones says the COVID-19 pandemic has had a devastating impact on the islands, first through the halting of crayfish and blue cod exports and then through the drying up of livestock and wool sales.
Fishing and farming are the islands’ main sources of economic revenue.
This, coupled with a lack of tourism, has resulted in an estimated of $20m in lost revenue to the island and unemployment of up to 30 per cent.
Copyright © 2020, UMA Broadcasting Ltd: www.waateanews.com