Maori Land Court may remove trustees of Northland marae over wharekai build

The wharekai at Mokau Marae is an empty shell after a lack of funding and infighting between trustees for many years. Photo / Supplied

Warring trustees of a Northland marae may be removed by the Maori Land Court and ordered to repay money paid to them above the approved limit during construction of a partially-completed wharekai.

Work began on a new wharekai at Mokau Marae in Oakura, 50km north of Whangarei, in 2005 but it is still incomplete due to an ongoing conflict between trustees.

Whangarei-based Kerr Construction was awarded the contract to construct all three stages of the project but the trustees in office in 2009 decided to engage Justice Builders of Dunedin to complete stage two after failing to secure funding.

That decision was made without terminating the contract with Kerr Construction which refused to start work on stage two until money owed from stage one was paid.

Justice Builders is owned by Justine Hoani, a nephew of trustee and project manager Adrienne Taungapeau and grandson of another trustee, Mereana Hoani.

He quoted $70,000 plus GST while Northland Building Maintenance's quote was $58,000 excluding GST.

Stage two was completed at the end of 2009 but no further work has been carried out since after funding to complete the next stage was declined by the Lottery Marae Heritage and Facilities Commission.

The commission raised concerns around the financial procedures and conflicts of interest and called for the appointment of an independent professional project manager before a future funding application was considered.

The Department of Internal Affairs wrote to the trustees twice in 2009 and expressed similar concerns.

Two trustees- David Scott and Donna Tamaki - filed applications in the Maori Land Court and sought, among other things, removal of the trustees with a focus on stage two of the project.

Judge Miharo Armstrong said no financial statements were prepared for 2010, 2011 and 2012 despite the fact that significant funds were spent on the project in 2009.

Ms Taungapeau and her mother Mereana Hoani should have declared a conflict of interest rather than voting in favour of Justice Builders to carry out the work, the judge said.

The judge also noted there was no principled basis upon which the trustees approved payment of $2000 per week to construction manager and Mereana Hoani's son Kyle.

He was paid, through the Mohimere Trust which was not authorised by the court, a total of $36,202 despite a maximum of $15,000 agreed upon.

A hearing will take place for the court to consider whether the remaining trustees in office in 2009, who have not resigned, should be removed.

It will also decide whether orders should be granted that required trustees to repay funds to the marae that were given in breach of the trust deed.