How long will prescription time limits last?
Prior to Covid-19, my yearly medication costs were $160 for four 90 days’ supply of tablets, costing $40 each collection ($15 repeat prescription and $25 for tablets). Now with repeat prescriptions limited to 30 days supply, the cost has trebled to $480, and I have to order and collect my medications 12 times a year instead of four. The total cost and waste is considerable.
I now have 60 plastic containers instead of 20 a year and the chemists’ workload and material costs are correspondingly increased. And worst of all: three times the ‘outside contact’ as before! How long will this continue? Kenneth Lees
Onerahi
Real world projects
In response to the Crown infrastructure partners initiative, Whanga¯ rei District Council had nine applications for “shovel ready” projects, with a total value of $715.6 million before Cabinet for a decision.
That is an impressive sum, but as the mayor bubbled recently, if the projects mooted went ahead it would be “like Christmas!” Latest news is that a somewhat underwhelming sum of $20m has been pledged to Whanga¯ rei from the Covid response fund. The putea (funds) will go toward building the proposed Hihiaua theatre, with a further $130m to be shared around Northland.
No $300m international airport? No $230m to spend on jazzing up the CBD? Sorry, but I think the Government was thinking of shovel ready real world projects not feel good wish lists.
So it looks like we will a have a new $20m theatre waiting for Godot, a new $34m art gallery waiting for cruise ships and an intergenerationally ratepayer funded new $50m Civic Centre waiting for the oohs and aahs of the mayor and the council. Thanks a bunch guys, we know you have our interests, welfare and what is of effective benefit for the district at heart.
GM Tinker Whanga¯rei
Poor show
It is a bit of a poor show when a community has to install their own road speed bumps to keep their
children safe and then for the council to insist that they be removed stating that more steps are required before they can be reinstalled! Knowing how fast the council moves, will these steps be long drawn out ones or quick running ones? Mmmm! Hope the council got the message obvious to the rest of us?
Marie Kaire Ngararatunua