Former boxer David Letele, from Brown Buttabean Motivation, talks about supporting the victims of the Auckland flood and the slow response from Mayor Wayne Brown. Video / Dean Purcell
Community advocate Dave Letele is standing by his call for the Auckland mayor to resign after describing the Council’s weekend’s response to the city’s weather emergency as a “disgrace”.
Meanwhile, communities and government agencies are coming together to help fellow Aucklanders who have been impacted by the flooding as rain continues to fall.
“The response has been slow and really ineffective, but I think the time for complaining about that is over and we’ve just got to move forward to get things done,” Letele said.
Letele, a former professional boxer, is a well-known face in the community - particularly in South Auckland - as part of his work for the company he founded: Buttabean Motivation (BBM) food distribution centre in Wiri.
Petelo Veukiso, 12, is one of the volunteers at the Mangere Civil Defence Centre. Photo / Dean Purcell
The centre provided huge support for the local community and particularly for Māori and Pasifika.
Since heavy rainfall battered Auckland last Friday, causing flash floods in homes and knocking out roads, the team at his food distribution centre has distributed food and clothing to more than 500 people.
He first called for Brown to resign as mayor on TVNZ’s Breakfast show this morning.
“You know I was feeling sorry for Wayne, I feel quite bad talking the way I’m talking about him,” Letele said.
“But this is the cold hard truth of it when you’re seeing kids sleep on wet mattresses, wet floors, families living in cars, that’s the result of the inaction and slow response.”
Community leader Dave Letele at work at his food bank in Manukau. Photo / Dean Purcell
He said the council’s response is a disgrace.
“It’s not just saying it’s a disgrace, we’re seeing it. That’s what makes it more real for us,” Letele said.
In contrast, Letele said he put a call out on all his social media channels, including Facebook and Instagram, asking people for donations of clothes and food and volunteers as soon as the weather worsened on Friday.
Brown is facing ongoing criticism about Auckland Council’s lack of response to the weather event, and Brown’s failure to declare a state of emergency until hours after flooding had already hugely impacted the region has also been slammed.
Letele said what’s important now is for victims to be aware that help and funding support is out there, and they can access it by calling 0800 400 100.
Manukau Concillor Alf Filipaina at the Mangere Civil Defence Centre. Photo / Dean Purcell
“I do think (Brown) should resign ... he did the same thing in his campaign out of frustration for ineffective officials, well I’m doing the same thing here,” he said.
“I believe he is out of his depth here, we needed a leader to stand up and he hasn’t.”
The mayor’s office has been approached for a response.
Four Civil Defence Centres have been set up to help people impacted by the weather event in Albany, Randwick Park, Kelston and Mangere.
Overnight 28 people stayed at the Albany centre, 34 at Randwick Park and 13 at St Leonard’s Road school in Kelston.
Volunteers and support services at the Mangere Memorial Hall. Photo / Dean Purcell
No one stayed at the Mangere Memorial Hall, but about 300 families had been through the centre to get food and clothing supplies.
Manukau Ward Councillor Alf Filipaina said the Mangere centre will be moved tomorrow to the Moana-Nui-a-Kiwa at the Mangere Town Centre to make it more accessible to people.
“We will be open 24/7 for our communities,” Filipaina said.
“At the new centre we will have the space for accommodation, government agencies and kitchen, and space for people just to relax.”
Volunteers at the Mangere Memorial Hall. Photo / Dean Purcell
Mother-of-two Loisa Finau, 28, said the help given at the centre “felt like a blessing in a midst of a nightmare”.
The family was at their Caravelle Close home when the floodwaters started rising real fast until it was hard for them to get out.
“We were lucky enough that cops went past and told us it’s an emergency and said ‘you have to leave now otherwise you’re gonna get stuck’,” she said.
“When we came back to see our place on Saturday morning, the water had practically damaged everything in our house.”
She was now staying at a family member’s home and came to the centre to collect clothing, blankets and basic food supplies.
Volunteers helping out at the Mangere Memorial Hall. Photo / Dean Purcell
Another evacuee, Kris Fifita, 36, who said she lost everything when her rental unit got flooded on Friday, said she was now bunking at a friend’s two-bedroom unit with 13 other people.
“I have not slept much since last Friday because I am just worried about what’s going to happen now,” she said.
Minister for Pacific Peoples Aputo William Sio, who was helping at the Mangere Centre said there has been a lot of devastation.
“It is devastating for people when they have lost their homes, whether it’s a house or a garage,” he said.
“We’re trying to give confidence and support to people because at the moment we know that people are living in cars close to their homes, relatives are offering their homes but it is causing overcrowdedness.
“We want to make sure people can feel confident to come in, get information from government agencies, see a doctor or a nurse, take food that they might need, have a cup of tea and have a cousin or aunty that sits there and give them a sense of confidence.”
