Greenpeace has accused ACC of investing taxpayer money into the controversial Ruataniwha dam. Protesters blockaded the ACC offices in Wellington today with six tonnes of cow sewage. The Ikaroa-Rāwhiti MP says ACC should stay out of it.
A dirty reminder from Greenpeace that ACC should stay out of the Ruataniwha dam debate.
Meka Whaitiri agrees, “We don't have a build a dam govt department in the public service so it would be detrimental to ACC, the board would have to step in and investigate, it’s just not their business."
Greenpeace says the Ruataniwha dam will encourage the expansion of the dairy industry in the Hawke's Bay, leading to more river pollution.
“We actually think that’s taking the piss. So we've blockaded ACC offices in Wellington today with six tonnes of dairy sewage. Millions of pollution like this is already destroying our precious rivers,” says Genevieve Toop the Public Engagement Coordinator for Greenpeace
The Hawke's Bay Regional Council stated that the cost to build the dam would be around $330mil.
Toop says that figure is way off, “Costs of the dam have soared to nearly 1 billion dollars and investors have already run away from it, and it looks like it’s going to have to be propped up by taxpayer’s money, that’s a sign that the economics of this scheme don't really stack up.”
ACC told Te Kāea they have a policy of not commenting on things they may or may not be investing in.
Whaitiri says she'll be surprised if the dam project stays afloat, “The dam and the environmental impacts, the financials don't add up, I don't want to be in charge of something, funding something that’s a white elephant.”
The protesters say they won't be moving until ACC hear them out.