The violent death of three-year-old Catalya Remana Tangimetua Pepene has sparked a call for Kaikohe locals and Māori to stand up and take control of their community.
A 45-year-old man has been charged with three-year-old Catalya’s murder and appeared in the Kaikohe District Court last week.
The death has rocked Kaikohe, at a time when whānau are also facing a methamphetamine crisis in the region.
New Zealand First deputy Leader Shane Jones is calling out local iwi leaders from Ngāpuhi to take some leadership.
“A child is dead and there’s a thunderous silence by Māori.
“This needs a strong response from the Kaikohe civic leadership and also by MPs of the North and a robust set of responses by police and the other agencies. A small fortune has been spent in Kaikohe to address social decay.
“There is nothing more repulsive than the death of this child.”
He called the housing complex where Catalya died “the Gaza Strip”.
“This death took place in a newly-built hauora housing complex – which was previously the site of the Kaikohe RSA,” Jones said.
“Hauora means healthy and the death of this infant in that complex is a catastrophic failure by so many.
“The police regularly visit that complex and the standards have collapsed.
“Where are all the great Ngāpuhi leadership?
The NZ First deputy leader copped abuse after a speech earlier this month where he identified Kaikohe as a danger zone.
“I was attacked by Ngāpuhi for my speech. Those attacks are meaningless to me. Just 48 hours later, we had that baby’s death.
“That complex where that child died is known as the Gaza Strip. It is dysfunctional with anti-social behaviour.
“Where are the community leaders … who keep waving the sovereignty flag about?
“Ngāpuhi go on about the declaration of independence. Where is the declaration of disgust for this baby?
Kaikohe Community leader and chair of Ngāpuhi Investment fund Ben Dalton agrees.
“It’s time for some leadership and us, as Ngāphui and the community taking control,” Dalton said.
“It is completely unacceptable that this social breakdown is allowed to continue.
“We have been trapped in this relationship between Ngāpuhi and the Crown, when in fact we could take a lot of this in our hands and move forward.”
Ngāpuhi leader Mane Tahere has already asked Police Minister Mark Mitchell for help to clean up the region from drugs and organised a hikoi down the mainstreet of Kaikohe on Monday morning.to lift the tapu off the town.
