Letters to the editor: No options in TECT proposal

TECT trustees. Photo / Supplied

I wish to support the suggestion by your correspondent Russell Wenn to wind up the Tauranga Energy Consumer Trust (Letters, February 23).

We are told the trust "must" change.

TECT beneficiaries are now facing the same situation they were presented with three years ago.

The only real difference I see between the 2018 proposal (subsequently withdrawn) and the current proposal is that the trust has stretched out the distribution to consumers from five years to 30 years.

Consumers are, in my opinion, again only being offered a single proposition and a limited period of consultation on what is a very important issue.

According to TECT, its net assets as at March 31, 2020, totalled $871 million. Winding up the trust and apportioning a 70/30 split would provide a new charitable trust with more than $250 million to continue doing good in the community whilst a 70 per cent share divided among eligible consumers would be of tremendous benefit to thousands of people in these difficult economic times.

I encourage every beneficiary of TECT to make their thoughts known to the trustees with submissions closing March 22, 2020.

J T Del la Varis
Welcome Bay

Elect people with proven ability

The Bay of Plenty Times (February 22) notes the higher education standards of MPs with some 90 per cent having a university degree whereas the general public sport only about 25 per cent with similar qualifications.

This note was tucked away in the briefly side column, perhaps, to avoid the peels of hilarity that such revelation deserves, newsworthy as it may be.

I thought, well, if education is the main qualification for public service how come we seem to be in such a quagmire morally and financially without a visible wisely constructed pathway forward?

We have academically qualified leadership, steering an amazingly blessed, fertile country well able to feed, house and sustain employment for our small population and still provide an export surplus to ensure prosperity.

So, where's the hiccup? It could be that there's some real wisdom missing. Wisdom is never gained solely from education, but needs to be mixed with a large dose of real-world experience and so takes time.

Some are wise earlier than others, so youth doesn't always spell foolishness and grey hair does not automatically denote wisdom.

Let's elect people with proven ability, perhaps from industry or social services ahead of the silver-tongued popularists

John Williams
Rotorua

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