The Indian Weekender, Friday 03 July 2020

The Indian Weekender Friday, July 3, 2020
NEW ZEALAND 7
Support for
Christchurch
Muslims falling:
Community leader
RADIO NEW ZEALAND
A
leader in the Christchurch Muslim community says
support for victims is slowly being withdrawn.
Following the massacre on 15 March 2019,
case managers were assigned to the bereaved and injured
to help them navigate their way around government
agencies including the Ministry of Social Development
(MSD), Accident Compensation Corporation (ACC) and
Immigration New Zealand (INZ).
Muslim Association of Canterbury general secretary
Feroze Ditta, who still carried fragments of the shooter’s
bullets in his leg, said this help was increasingly not
on offer.
He said instead people were being referred to non-
Christchurch based staff.
“We are being palmed off to other people who do not
necessarily know the background of what has happened
and they have to familiarise themselves again [with our
cases].”
However the needs were still significant, he said.
“Those that were injured, some of them have not been
able to return to work, [there’s still work to do] retraining
them, as well as the mental trauma.”
MSD regional commissioner Diane McDermott said
initially 16 case managers were assigned to help the
community but was reduced to nine shortly after.
“With the advent of Covid-19, we assigned seven of
these case managers to also assist with our response to the
economic impacts of the virus. However, each of these case
managers remained available to their ‘case management
service’ clients if they were needed,” she said.
New car park booking
system for Mt Ruapehu
IWK BUREAU
Queuing for a carpark is set to
become a thing of the past at Mt
Ruapehu’s Turoa and Whakapapa
ski fields.
A new parking booking system is being
introduced this season to help ease traffic
congestion at the mountain during peak
times and ensure a sustainable level of
visitation can be managed.
RAL CEO Jono Dean says, “This means
that visitors can book a park in advance
and put an end to waiting in frustrating
queues and being turned around at the last
minute.
“We’ve listened to the frustrations about
queuing for parking and general volumes
of visitors to the ski areas and we’ve come
up with what we believe is a good solution
that will ensure fair and equitable parking
for everyone.”
Jono is hoping that the booking system
will also encourage visitors to plan their
trip in advance and avoid busy times, like
weekends. “While weekends will always
be busy, skiers need to consider going up
the mountain mid-week to avoid crowds
and queues. The new booking system will
show live availability so people can easily
see when is the best time to visit.”
Visitors will be able to book online
at https://www.mtruapehu.com/ on a
Wednesday which will include availability
for the week ahead. Car number plates
will be scanned on arrival to match to the
booking at a controlled entry point on the
Bruce Road or Ohakune Mountain Road.
“Visitors will also be asked how many
people will be in each car, which will help
us to manage the reduced Safe Carrying
Capacities in place for both ski fields this
season. Whakapapa is limited to 4,500
visitors and Turoa 3,700,” Jono says.
He adds that besides driving, there
are other options to get up the mountain.
“While RAL isn’t operating a shuttle
service this season there are a number of
great local shuttle operators who transport
visitors up the mountain from local towns.”
The booking system will be open to
the public by Wednesday 8 July and in
operation by Saturday July 11. The process
to book and secure a carpark is free to
customers this season.
And this week heralds the official start
of winter 2020 season. Whakapapa ski area
will open on Wednesday July 1, but due
to Mother Nature not delivering enough
snow yet the offering will be limited.
“Our snow machines are pumping
snow but we’re lacking a good base of
natural snow. Sky Waka will be open for
sightseeing and also Happy Valley for
learners. We’re also hoping to have the
tobogganing slope up and running for the
school holidays but it very much depends
on snowfall,” Jono says.
Before heading up the mountain visitors
should check the Mt Ruapehu website for
the latest updates, snowcams, weather
conditions and to book a carpark. This is
a mandatory component on visiting Mt
Ruapehu this season. Further information
about the new car parking booking system
is also on the website https://www.
mtruapehu.com/.
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