Letter: ‘Ugly’ artist impression

CI News ran a story on 9 May headlined, ‘Exciting times ahead as market makeover begins’.

The effort that seems to have gone into consulting with stakeholders including the many local merchants is commendable. But this writer wonders if your layout person inserted the wrong photograph. The picture is of a long building and parking lot, an artist’s impression, says the caption.

But that can’t be what is going to be built on Rarotonga? That building has every element of a cheap strip mall in a poor Aotearoa suburb. It’s ugly, without any appeal whatsoever and about as Polynesian and Māori as the Aotearoa High Commission built in Niue. You might want to publish the picture of that sad export from Aotearoa to our cousins in Niue.

How much money do we spend promoting the Cook Islands with pictures of beaches, palm trees and our mountains to entice visitors to get away from their everyday lives and visit ‘paradise’? So, yes, let’s put our local produce, arts and crafts, and entrepreneurs on display in a sad strip mall.

(Name and address supplied)