Whenua Māori ‘car crashing’ highway used as a dumping site

Rubbish piled up on SH3 and adjacent Māori land. Photo / Supplied

By Waimanea Nuri of Whakaata Maori

Stretching from the outskirts of Rotorua to Paengaroa is a rural road, State Highway 33, known to locals as a “car crashing” highway but now, it seems, also a dumping site.

Harina Rupapera, a biosecurity officer for Te Arawa Lakes Trust, recently discovered piles of rubbish on the roadside and on Māori whenua beside it and describes it as a “horrific sight”.

She says every time she drives down the road, she thinks of her ancestor, Rangitihi of Te Arawa, who once lived on the land there.

Rupapera says the whenua was covered in rubbish like clothes, car parts, car seats and wheels. Photo / Supplied

“That’s me, I think of my ancestors every time I drive that road and when I saw that car there, it was full of rubbish. That’s when I decided to go to the car to see the extent of it all.”

Rupapera says it wasn’t only a full car of rubbish, since the whole area was also inundated with trash.

“The whenua was covered in rubbish like clothes, car parts, car seats and wheels.”

She worries about the effect of this behaviour (rubbish dumping) on the environment.

“I know it’s not for me to tell people what to do with their whenua or any whenua but we all need to look at how to treat it because we all need to ensure that we look after Papatuānuku, as best as we can.”