Business Lays It On The Line For Minister
Written by John Freer on March 30, 2023
By John Freer
Members of the Coromandel Peninsula businesses community, iwi and councillors had the chance to sell the need for significant on-going government support on the back of the devastation and impact of double cyclones.
In Thames today was the Minister co-ordinating the storm recovery, Minister Michael Wood.
After spending the afternoon meeting with representatives, the Minister told local news media that it was important the government understood the impacts so it could support a locally driven response.
He did have a positive outcome for those struggling to keep businesses solvent advising that Coromandel Peninsula had been granted additional funding for business recovery. This follows an initial grant of $1.4 million, applications for which close tomorrow.
More than 400 businesses had already sought funding with still 24-hours before the close off. The Minister he expected the additional amount to be announced in coming days.
SH25A was on the agenda with Minister Wood saying there was no quick fix, and he could not offer any guarantees that the road will be open for Christmas.
He said the issue was enormously complex, as due to the size and nature of the damage, there was nothing to build on.
You can hear the CFM interview with Minister Wood by opening the link below.
