It’s a sign! Someone’s been taking the ‘P’ out of Puke Ariki
An artist on a mission to rid the country of methamphetamine by crossing Ps out on street signs says he is glad his cause has finally reached Taranaki.
Hohepa Thompson has been using red tape to cross out the let- ter P on street and public signs across the country in the hope of raising awareness about the dangers of the drug.
On Tuesday the Puke Ariki sign in New Plymouth was given the same P treatment.
‘‘I’ve seen it and I know who did it, but I don’t want to identify who it was,’’ Thompson said.
‘‘But it was good to see people taking a stand in New Plymouth and standing up for the cause.’’
‘‘P is becoming the new social norm in New Zealand and everyone knows someone who’s on it.
‘‘We need to help our young people and help them to make better choices.’’
Thompson started his cam- paign on August 23 by crossing out Ps all across the Kapiti coast and the movement has spread across the country.
‘‘We’ve opened up a can of worms but it’s a good can of worms we’ve opened,’’ he said.
The P-less signs are just the start, with Thompson encouraging everyone to take the Ps out of everything until the campaign ends on September 23.
Thompson said he was currently working through phase two of the project which centres around education.
He is working with senior Mongrel Mob member Dennis Makalio and has also attracted support from All Black Dane Coles. ‘‘This isn’t just the government’s problem – the government need to lead it but we all need to take a stand.’’
While Thompson was given a telling off by Kapiti mayor K Gurunathan on September 2, the New Plymouth council declined to comment on the matter when approached.