Dear Editor, As chair of the To Tatou Vai Board of Directors, Brian Mason is in the habit of justifying water charges by pleading corporate poverty: “The implementation of the tariff will not be delayed because to do so would compromise the supply of water essential to all who live, reside and visit Rarotonga.” (Cook Islands News, 12 August 2024)

Cook Islands Government funds TTV via two separate mechanisms: Operating budget and Capital budget.

The installation of water meters is a capital project. TTV estimates $1,448,268 to be spent on this project in the current financial year. However, the 2024/25 Budget short-changed TTV almost a million dollars; cutting the capital down to $500,000.

The $3 million operating budget is drip-fed to the water authority, $250,000 each month. This means that the ongoing cost of staff, treatment, consumables is being met by the Crown.

TTV does not have the budget to install the meters; but TTV does have the budget to operate Rarotonga’s water system.

Delaying the tariff will not compromise the supply of water. However, it will frustrate the Board’s ambition of being fully commercialised by 2026.

Te Vai Ora Maori