Taranaki descendant Turama Hawira describes the Trans Tasman Resources company (TTR) as “ngārara kutu kutu” or insects infesting the body of Mother Earth.
TTR has made an application to the Environmental Protection Authority to extract and process billions of dollars’ worth of iron-sand from the South Taranaki seabed.
Yesterday the Environmental Protection Authority started their hearings in New Plymouth to gather submissions.
But Taranaki descendants of the Ngā Rauru tribe have opposed the application and Turama Hawira of Te Kaahui o Rauru spoke to Kawe Kōrero Reporters about their concerns.
Hawira criticises TTR’s plans to dig up the ocean floor just off the coast of Pātea and says it will ruin the underwater ecosystem and there will be no more fish in those waters.
Many South Taranaki descendants along the coast rely on the sea as a food source, and Hawira says the mining will kill off all sea food in their waters.
Submissions for the TTR application to the Environmental Protection Authority close this Thursday.