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Dear Editor, The list of stakeholders attending the April 2024 water price meeting includes Te Aponga Uira and Vodafone (Cook Islands Organics questions upcoming water prices, calls for meeting, July 10).
On the surface, none of them are big water users and are unlikely to contribute meaningfully to the water authority’s bottom line.
But there is no Ministry of Agriculture.
And there aren’t many active grower groups. No farmers – no moms and dads growing flowers for church and community, no organics, no permaculture, not even export hopefuls?
Instead, the tariff advisers’ engagement with the Rarotonga grower community came from technical reports. These documents, dating back to 2000, were a source of data on water use, number of agricultural connections and waste estimates.
There seemed to be a translation error (twice) on the way from Texas.
In the Cook Islands, farming is not only a means of livelihood, but also a way of life.
The 2021 Population and Housing Census supports this claim:
“Among those households that are actively engaged in agriculture (70%), more than 80% is used for household consumption and only 1% is used for sale or commercial purposes.”
Attempts by Tatou Vai chief executive Apii Timoti to quell criticism – claiming the meeting would be best held after the meters were installed – did not hold up. The tariff report has already introduced fixed service charges, detailed connection types and forecasts the revenue TTV will earn from each customer category.
Over five years, growers are expected to pay $1.3 million, more than the tourism industry. This burden must be added to domestic costs to determine the true socioeconomic impact of user fees. But figuring that out sounds more like consultant work than changing the law.
Make our water free.
Andy Kirkwood
Location
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