18 JUNE 2015

Hostel Conditions a Throwback to Dickensian Times

New Zealand First Leader Rt Hon Winston Peters says hostel conditions at Maori Catholic school Hato Petera College are terrible.

“Why have the students and staff had to put up with Dickensian conditions for so long?” says the Member of Parliament for Northland.

“The appalling hostel at Hato Petera, rundown Northland College and Bay of Islands College point straight at lack of oversight by the government.

“We visited the school recently and we were shocked when we stepped inside the school and the hostel - we expected Charles Dickens to step out.

“There are no excuses. We have consistently raised this with the Minister. When did she visit and smell the odour of neglect?”

The conditions suggest that it is intentional. Will a cry of poverty be made and this valuable piece of real estate be sold off?

Spokesperson for Education Tracey Martin says Minister of Education Hekia Parata and Associate Minister of Education Nikki Kaye have repeatedly fobbed off any responsibility for the hostel.

“The Associate Minister has pushed it on to the diocese, because she says they receive ‘a large chunk’ of money.

“It’s taxpayers’ money. They have a duty to follow up to ensure it is invested appropriately and for these students.

“Ms Kaye says the hostel has been inspected. Surely it failed the latest inspection.

“Clearly they have been ineffective, or the builders would have been in and fixed the hostel long ago. The government should have stepped into Hato Petera and worked with the diocese, the school and the hostel to get a solution.”

ENDS

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