Your views: Readers' letters

Unfair charge

I quote from the council website's Annual Plan publication: "We know that people living outside of the wastewater network benefit from a clean environment. This charge is about acknowledging this benefit".

This so-called "benefit" the council is referring to is paid for by the residents themselves. We are the ones who pay for the "benefit of a clean environment" by personally paying for our septic tanks to be emptied every 4 years, at $300+ a pop. Will there be a reduction/rebate for this service by the council for the people who have a septic tank? I think not!

Considering that the septic tank operators like Worsleys and Allens are going to be charged (from the end of the 2017 year) to use the pump station by the Whanganui District Council, this fee IS going to be passed on to the customer. So this means that the customer is, in effect, going to be charged twice by the Whanganui District Council.

Living in a clean environment? Maybe the council needs to fix the "poo ponds" just down the road from us? What has been happening hardly constitutes a "clean environment". You are not currently using your sewage treatment plant; you're pumping it out to sea for Mother Nature to deal with ... does she charge you for that?

So, I would like an invoice for this so-called "charge", please. I believe a charge implies there's a service being provided. This council is not providing a service, more like putting their hand out for money they are not earning. It must look great on paper, knowing you could possibly have an extra $300,000 to play with, without actually having to earn it.

If the council would like an extra $50 of my hard-earned money, I suggest they put the town sewerage down my road and connect my house to it. I will then gladly pay the cost, per year, like everyone else, but until then, I will not.

TERENA CURREY
Putiki

War and peace

Rachel Rose's insightful opinion piece (Chronicle, April 29) about our Quaker community and their white poppy silent vigil on Anzac Day provided a terrific start to my morning.

I too have read much WWI literature, including the Pat Barker trilogy and Archibald Baxter's We Will Not Cease about the appalling treatment of conscientious objectors.

The Chronicle reported that the previous Friday (official poppy day) Whanganui RSA manager Kyle Dalton had said he welcomed the white poppy sellers and that defending freedom of speech and expression was a large part of what the red poppy appeal stood for.

On a day that has become an increasingly militaristic and nationalistic celebration of (mostly) men who bore arms and were trained to kill, it was sad to see so much support for the 12-year-old son of a leading NZ First official's vituperative attack on silent protesters at the national war memorial. Mr Dalton's comments were a mature and welcome antidote.

In recent months we've seen similar uninformed attacks on the authors of Hit & Run, a disturbing book that raises matters of great concern involving SAS members serving in Afghanistan in 2010. Unconvincing press conferences by the head of the Defence Force and our PM were part of a desperate government attempt to shut down widespread calls for an independent inquiry into the attack on two mountain villages in which villagers, including a 3-year-old girl, were killed.

I wonder how the father of that 12-year-old would feel if his son was growing up in a war-torn and desperately poor village only to die in an attack involving NZ troops.

On poppy day I declined to make my usual generous donation and explained my reasons, as outlined above, to a serving soldier who was with a group of cadets collecting in Victoria Ave. He said he knew how these things worked and the attack should have remained secret. He explained the killing of the 3-year-old by saying, "That's war".

I told him the primary sources for Hit & Run were men who had served with the SAS and were so disturbed about the attack that they lifted the secrecy in a bid to ensure such an atrocity was not repeated. That's a sentiment I, as a grandparent, hope can be respected as an enduring part of future Anzac Day commemorations.(Abridged)

CAROL WEBB
Whanganui

Paid a pittance

I wish those grossly underpaid workers at IDEA ("Workers take to the streets", Chronicle, April 28) great success in their drive for decent wages.

What kind of bean-counting government ghouls do those wonderful caregivers work for? They are doing the job because they see a need, and staying on because they care.

Please don't anybody give me rubbish that they stay in their jobs because they need the money. If they didn't care, they wouldn't last in that high-stress environment for long.

It's obvious from the article that, although the clients have mental conditions, there are "co-morbidities" -- physical ailments that accompany some mental conditions.

To expect a caregiver to take on responsibilities of what is often a highly skilled nursing and psychological service while paying them near-minimum wage is an insult to the caregiver and could be life-threatening to clients.

Under-staffing is an issue, as well as lousy wages.

Reported government "restructuring of the funding" should be immediate, and in a steeply upward direction.

The picture with the article shows a protest sign: "My job is not safe". Exactly: it isn't safe for the clients.

This is election year. Give the Government unrelenting embarrassment over this, all the way to polling day. If we are allegedly a "First World" country, it would be great to see some evidence reflected in how we care for our disadvantaged citizens

STAN HOOD
Aramoho