A member of Ngati Rangitihi in the eastern Bay of Plenty says this week's agreement with the operators of the Tasman Pulp & Paper Mill in Kawerau amounts to just hot air.
Waatea News reports the memorandum of understanding commits Carter Holt Harvey and Norske Skog, to work with Ngati Rangitihi, Ngati Awa and Tuwharetoa ki Kawerau, on measures to clean up the Tarawera River, which is known as the "black drain".
But Maanu Paul, says those iwi who signed the memorandum don't hold rights of ownership of the river under the region's Waitangi Tribunal claim.
He says the small number of jobs Ngati Rangitihi people have at the mill, needs to be weighed against the hundreds they could get if the river was cleaned up.
