Kaumatua Flats Opened at Manutuke ‘I know of no greater urgency than to see our people well housed, and no greater joy than to see many of our elders enabled to live beside and to keep our maraes warm.’ These words were expressed by the Hon. Matiu Rata, Minister of Maori Affairs, in a letter to members of a marae committee considering the erection of kaumatua flats in their area; and in a speech prepared for the opening of ‘Manawaru’, the Maori and Island Affairs Department's most recently completed block at Manutuke, Gisborne, he said, ‘As young people, particularly young parents, face the necessity to move from traditional tribal areas into the cities and towns to be able to earn a living, the older members of the family are often confronted with a dilemma. They have to decide whether to keep the family together in a new location at the risk of imposing a burden on the breadwinners, or whether to remain in the home area and to risk weakening the links with the past which the younger people will need to depend on as they cope with the new and strange situations of life in the city. ‘Many of those who have made the decision to stay have had to cope with inadequate housing conditions in their declining years. The plan is to build flats adjacent to active maraes so that retired people can take a full part on marae activities. This is good for the people and good for the marae. This is nothing like a feeling of being useful to make one's life a satisfaction. ‘Rather than thinking that our building homes for the elderly is to show our gratitude and our aroha, which we must keep if we are to retain our integrity as Maori, the real reason is the desire to keep our elders where they become the ones who keep our maraes, our communities and our lands warm with their presence. Not for us the Eventide homes, the boarding houses where the elderly are put on their own, the communities consisting solely of the aged and the infirm. Elders are part of the community and must The first tenants for the new flats; from left, Mrs Rangitahi Kaimoana, Mr Oha Porter and Mrs I ranui Williams. photographs by Gisborne Photo News