Another iwi accepts Rena offer

Work on cutting up the Rena in 2013. Photo/File

Another iwi has accepted an offer to withdraw its opposition to the application to leave the Rena on the Astrolabe Reef.

Ngati Ranginui Iwi Society confirmed they had accepted the offer from the owners of MV Rena and signed an agreement last week.

Steph O'Sullivan, chief executive of Ngati Ranginui Iwi Society, said the agreement followed three years of engagement between Ngati Ranginui Iwi Society Inc the owners of the MV Rena.

"The agreement signals the iwi's decision to acknowledge the Rena incident and its impact on Tauranga Moana but heralds a significant decision to move on in light of the latest evidence from the reef."

The Ngati Ranginui Board reviewed all options and agreed that not pursuing action through the upcoming hearing was the best option in a difficult situation, she said.

Ngati Ranginui chairman Tawharangi Nuku said the decision had been tough.

"The important focus is now for the iwi to prepare ourselves to deal with other environmental and resource management issues in the future.

"We are aware of the immense difficulties associated with further work on the reef, and the iwi do not wish to put any lives at risk, nor do we wish to put at further risk the environment which could occur if any additional removal works were undertaken."

"Ngati Ranginui respects the rights of other iwi to make their own decisions and do what is right for them," he said.

The Bay of Plenty Times reported a similar offer had been taken by Te Arawa , a Rotorua-based iwi which had strong ties with Maketu.

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Te Arawa chairman Sir Toby Curtis said the iwi had reached a "wonderful outcome" with the Rena's owners promising a sum of money.

Sir Curtis said all new media queries were to go through Raewyn Bennett who could not be reached by The Bay of Plenty Times yesterday.

Hugo Shanahan, a spokesman for Rena's owners, confirmed through representative Konstantinos Zacharatos from Daina Shipping Co, which owns the MV Rena, had spoken with numerous iwi and community leaders - holding more than 150 face-to-face meetings during repeated visits from Athens.

Mr Shanahan did not respond to questions regarding the number of iwi offered settlements, how many iwi or hapu accepted the offers or how much the settlements were worth.

"In recognition of cultural effects of leaving the wreck on a reef of special significance to Maori, the application proposed a package of proposals to mitigate these effects through cultural and mauri monitoring and funding for environmental and other projects," Mr Shanahan said.