The Kainga Ora tenant who was physically abused and harassed by another tenant has now been placed on a priority watch for a new whare.
Rangihopuata Rapana and his partner Sarah-Louise Haika are now on the agency’s internal business transfer list after several years of complaints about poor living conditions and abuse. However, they are still uncertain about what the future looks like for them.
Rangihopuata Rapana says, “I still don’t understand why it had to get to this point for them to actually listen to us. Things could have been sorted out between just the ministry and not having to come to media and that kind of stuff. But they’re doing that to a lot of our people. Not just Māori but a whole lot of people are suffering in some of these whare that Kainga Ora are putting up. It’s not safe, it’s not healthy. Those are the things I believe they should be looking at first when they place people, the health and safety side of things.”
Mould problem
Along with recent complaints of physical abuse and violence from fellow tenants of an Auckland Kainga Ora complex, both Rapana and his partner Sarah-Louise Haika of Ngāti Wai have been concerned about mould growing in their bathroom.
Haika suffers from poor health, and it is declining whilst living in a unit with mould.
“I’ve got a rare condition called GPA for short. It’s an immune disorder as well as an inflammatory disorder where I get real sickly, my body swells and I end up having arthritis. No offence to old people but I feel like an old person because of that. And now I even have asthma, which keeps getting worse because of the mould,” she says.
Whilst her health is declining her wishes are for a new place to live.
“I’m shattered. I came to Auckland for my health and I just feel like ever since we’ve been down here living in this place, it has made my health conditions worse. Way worse than it should be. I feel like I don’t want to be here and Kainga Ora is not listening to me at all,” Haika says.
Should have been heard earlier
A Kāinga Ora spokesperson says the agency’s maintenance contractors have been investigating the cause of the mould problems at the unit and are working to address it.
“It seems an overflowing washing machine in the unit above may be causing the problem.”
Although they have been made a priority and their case has been escalated Rapana believes the issue should have been addressed earlier.
“I know they’ve given us a whare and I thank them for giving us a whare. A brand new whare at that. but when there’s poor workmanship and those kind of things, and they’re looking at us like ‘that’s not poor workmanship.’ We’re in a brand new house but you can see that there’s mould there,” Rapana says.
However, there was one person who shone a light in times of darkness for the couple, though they don’t want to publicly name her.
“I just thank her for showing me the light and telling me the only way I’m going to be listened to is if I come to the media.
“And showing that someone is actually listening to you and is actually there to help you.”