ROUNDABOUT MOWN
I would like to commend whoever is responsible for having the grass at the SH10, Kerikeri Rd intersection mown properly, and with the weeds trimmed as well.
This entrance to our town has been left unkempt for years, with contractors only paid for it to be mown four times a year, or when the grass got to 12 inches high.
It was so bad last year that we took it upon ourselves to mow it a few times, only to be told off for not having the necessary health and safety equipment.
Now we just need to get rid of the ugly billboards, and stop people leaving their cars and boats there. Come on Kerikeri, it’s the entrance to our town, not a sales yard!
Judy Hyland
Kerikeri
WORK ETHIC
We so often hear there are no employment opportunities for young people in the Far North. Yet, when you speak to employers, you get a different story. ’’We are screaming out for reliable workers’’ they say.
I spoke to a number of employers, training providers and industry organisations. They said: ❚ Work ethic is a major and many do not turn up for work;
❚ Many are not in a fit state for work and find it hard to follow instructions.
❚ Family problems often interfere because parents don’t value work. ❚ Parents, teachers/careers advisors and students don’t value trades.
❚ Building and construction apprentices often struggle because they have dropped maths, science and engineering in school.
The employers I spoke to were only too happy to take on apprentices, but they need help from parents. Parents needed to value work and expose their kids to work experiences from an early age to help build the essential life skills that employers are screaming out for. As many of them said, ‘‘give us a young person with the right work ethic and we’ll do the rest.’’
Jill Smith
Kerikeri