Warring trustees of a Northland marae may be removed by the Maori Land Court and ordered to repay money paid to them above the approved limit during construction of a partially-completed wharekai.
Work began on a new wharekai at Mokau Marae in Oakura, 50km north of Whangarei, in 2005 but it is still incomplete due to an ongoing conflict between trustees.
Whangarei-based Kerr Construction was awarded the contract to construct all three stages of the project but the trustees in office in 2009 decided to engage Justice Builders of Dunedin to complete stage two after failing to secure funding.
That decision was made without terminating the contract with Kerr Construction which refused to start work on stage two until money owed from stage one was paid.
Justice Builders is owned by Justine Hoani, a nephew of trustee and project manager Adrienne Taungapeau and grandson of another trustee, Mereana Hoani.