Letter: Wigmore Falls charges questioned

Dear Editor, It is interesting to see the new toll sign at the entrance to the Wigmore/Papua Falls Road. The reason/justification given by the “landowner” for doing this last time was that the money raised would be used to upgrade the road to the falls.

History shows that this goal has never been achieved, and one cannot help but ask, where does the money raised ultimately go?

It is ridiculous to charge to enter Wigmore Falls, which is one of the main things visitors do in Rarotonga…it is a little adventure many visitors take on whether there is water in the falls or not.

This new scam is the worst possible PR move for Rarotonga in terms of hosting tourists. Cook Islands Tourism, you place so much importance on making tourists feel welcome…think about the effect this ridiculous scam will have on tourists’ perceptions. Please do not use the excuse that the road is on private land, it has always been open to the public and there is absolutely no reason to change this at this time. Remember, tourism is everyone’s business. One landowner should not be able to change this.

Also, to put the costs into perspective, the cost of resurfacing this road is estimated to be around $600,000. At $5 per car, 30 cars per day (estimated): $150 per day x 6 days = $900 per week – minus of course the wages of a local caretaker, say 8 hours at $10 per hour, totaling $80 x 40 hours = $320. This leaves about $600/week x 50 weeks = $30,000. Splitting the cost between the road upgrade and the Cook Islands SPCA, my calculation is that it would take about 40 years to repair this road, assuming the cost of the road remains the same – unlikely! The above figures do not include VAT or other government taxes.

The whole scene looked very strange.

As mentioned above, tourism is everybody’s business. So what are you doing about it, Cook Islands Tourism?

(Provide name and address)