'Traitor' fear over marae arson

By RENEE KIRIONA

Rotorua elders fear a traitor in the tribe may be to blame for the fire that engulfed an ancestral meeting house at Owhata Marae.

Investigations by the police and Fire Service have confirmed that an accelerant was used on the Tutanekai meeting house.

Tribal elder Te Pohawaiki Wiringi-Jones said he believed someone within the Te Roro o te Rangi subtribe might be responsible.

"I believe it is one of our own and I feel very sorry for them," he said.

"He or she obviously had a big problem and it's a shame they never came to talk to us. We have meetings every month - it's an open-door policy and especially designed for people to raise their concerns."

Mr Wiringi-Jones was sure that if the police did not catch the perpetrator the "powers that be" would deal with him or her.

"That person will be dealt with by his or our tupuna [ancestors]. It's what Pakeha call poetic justice."

Asked what might have motivated such an act, Mr Wiringi-Jones said it could have been a whole range of reasons. "It could be a social, historical or personal thing. Only that person knows and personally I'm not looking for utu [revenge]."

Clinical psychologist Dr Ian Lambie of Auckland University, who specialises in arsonists, said misdirected anger, revenge, experimentation and boredom were some of the most common reasons people lit fires.

"Adolescents are most likely to set fires because they want to experiment or are bored whereas adults do it to seek revenge or get back at someone.

"If the person who did this is not associated with the marae then they are most probably linked to someone from there."

Marae secretary and rangatahi (young leader) Sheryl Anderson said if the perpetrator had intended tramping on the mana of the tribe he or she had not succeeded.

"We're all still here. Tutanekai is still here, holding strong and upright. Our children are still playing there in front of their marae and, if anything, this is going to make us stronger.

"All I can say is what goes around comes around," Ms Anderson said.

The marae was insured for about $500,000 but carvings dating back to 1874 were destroyed.

Andre Baker, chairman of Rangiatea Church in Otaki, which burned to the ground in an arson in 1995, said he understood exactly what the Rotorua subtribe was going through.

"We sympathise and empathise with all the emotional turmoil they are going through.

"Our thoughts and blessings are with them."

Thousands of people are expected at this Sunday's opening of the church, which is the cornerstone of the confederation of iwi and hapu of Ngati Raukawa, Ngati Toa and Atiawa.

Meanwhile in Kaikohe the fire that gutted Okorini Marae on Wednesday is not being treated as suspicious.

* A fire that badly damaged Northland's Ohaeawai hotel yesterday was deliberately lit, fire inspectors say.

Fire inspector Craig Bain said samples of suspected accelerant were sent away for testing after fire and Kaikohe CIB police staff inspected the site of the early morning fire blaze.

It had started in the unused old staff quarters of the hotel, which was built in 1895.

The manager was awake downstairs when he smelled smoke about 6.30am and dialled 111 just before the smoke detectors sounded. There was no sprinkler system.

Northland volunteer fire brigade support officer Colin Kitchen said the old sleeping quarters were badly damaged but fire brigades from Kaikohe, Kerikeri and Okaihau stopped the fire, using water from a tanker and a nearby creek, just as it reached the ceiling space, saving the bar.

"They just got here in time. Another five or 10 minutes and it could have all been over."

Mr Bain said fires in the area had highlighted the need for sprinkler systems in historic buildings.