October 09, 2015
Expressway opportunity for laid off miners
A Waikato entrepreneur believes there will be plenty of opportunities above ground for laid off miners from the Huntly East Coal Mine.
State owned enterprise Solid Energy plans to close the mine as it tries to clear hundreds of millions of dollars in debt.
Former league star Tawera Nikau says his marae has been working on getting local Maori work on the new Waikato Expressway.
"We've been able to link in with Trail Group which is providing training and employment for a lot of our people in Huntly over the next five years for that project, connecting Auckland, Waikato and Tauranga. The government talks about that being the biggest growth area for our GDP over the next few years so while there are closures of other state owned enterprises, it does offer an opportunity for other employment, training and development of our people," he says.
Tawera Nikau says he did his apprenticeship as in the Huntly mines as a fitter before his rugby league career took off.
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