"While some of the wrecked ship is removed, the rest is left to the whims of the weather and tide."
Mr Mikaere said personal tragedy, illness and death had visited Ngai Te Hapu since the Rena disaster, with some thinking they were being punished because of the failure to protect the mauri of the reef and Motiti itself.
"Others believe it is also the result of health problems that we suspect was caused by spray drift of Corexit oil dispersant which got on to rainwater-collecting roofs on the island during the week-long aerial spraying of this dangerous chemical."
Mr Mikaere said the restoration of mauri and of them as a people was only possible by the complete removal of the wreck.
He said the evidence of Ngai Te Hapu's traditional relationship with Otaiti was compelling.
"No matter how you want to dress it up, dumping the Rena and the remainder of its cargo on the reef and permitting it to continue to leak pollutants into the marine environment will not recognise and provide for our relationship."
While there was no denying that other hapu and iwi might have an interest in the reef, he said it was Ngai Te Hapu that held mana moana and its views should take precedence.
Mr Mikaere said Te Arawa's claims to having a say over the reef were very thinly based. He welcomed the support of Ngati Whakaue ki Maketu, Tapuika, Waitaha and others in their Rena struggle, saying they were dismayed that others had "sacrificed their cultural integrity and sold out to the owners and insurers".
Priority for consultation should have gone to those like Ngai Te Hapu whose membership was made up firstly of people with ongoing continuous occupation of Motiti and secondly by affiliates and landowners, he said.
"The Rena event has impacted and wrecked havoc on whanau and hapu/iwi relationships."
He said it had brought to the forefront the politics of greed and personal gain at the cost of cultural integrity, had destroyed alliances that had been centuries in the making and sown discord and distrust.
"The healing of all this raruraru (trouble), this mamae (hurt and grief) begins with the removal of that wreck and with it the evil that it has wrought in our Maori community. Only then will the mauri start to recover."