Commitment first: Letters, 17 April

The Bay of Plenty Times welcomes letters and comments from readers. Here you can read the letters we have published in your newspaper today.

Museum needs to fund its wish-list

Moana Museum Trust (BOP Times, April 3) and the council seem to have learned nothing.

Ratepayers do not want their rates squandered on a museum.

The trust, like the Art Gallery, have their hand out. They want $100,000 from the council for the consent process and it seems another $100,000 to "establish an administrative and planning position".

Wait, there's more; they want effectively to be gifted the Cliff Rd site.

This site has been valued at some $16 million-$20 million. What? This could pay off some of the city's debt or go towards much needed infrastructure.

The Cliff Rd site is favoured, primarily, because it has, "clear views of Mauao".

Perhaps, like me, they should have inspected the site.

There will be no views of Mauao until you are at least three storeys off the ground and that may require cutting trees at the Mission Cemetery.

You don't go to a museum to look at the views. You go to look at the exhibits.

Have they done any fundraising? Well, no, not yet.

The trust says it wants council commitment first.

I have a suggestion: How about the trust funding the $200,000 instead of demanding it from ratepayers? That's the commitment I want to see first.

Richard Prince, Welcome Bay

Yes to euthanasia

I do believe 100 per cent in voluntary euthanasia.

The sooner it becomes legal, the less people will suffer.

Bert Roelofsen, Otumoetai

Drilling worries

Every day I drive my car and take it for granted what makes it move from Te Puna to town.

The reality is my car travels from Te Puna to town powered by a fuel-driven engine and that fuel comes from oil drilled from the whenua - somewhere in the world.

Sometimes us human beings seem to to run with the hares and hunt with the hounds at the same time when it comes to what we need and what we want in life, and the recent raruraru (trouble) on oil exploration has highlighted our perceived preciousness.

If we are true to our environmental kaupapa and concerns when it comes to drilling for oil then we should walk everywhere.

Drilling for oil is a lot like prisons.

We all know we need them but we don't want them in our own back yard.

Tommy Kapai, Te Puna