Round 8 of the Vaka Pride competition included special bonus prizes for most maintained Marae with the historical context provided. Mana Tiaki Champions awards were also provided to individuals through their extra cleaning efforts within their villages.

Congratulations to the following individuals and groups who took out first, second and third placing within their respective categories for Round 8 of the Vaka Pride competition.

Akono I te Ao Rangi category focuses on most clean public areas helping to keep our islands pollution free and disease free.

First place: Takuvaine/Tutakimoa - $3,000
Second place: Avatiu - $2,000

These prizes are awarded to the village with the most points collected from Ministry of Internal Affairs monthly Tama Oire clean up results, Ministry of Health Tutaka results, and the National Environment Service (NES) complaints reports.
Well done to both these villages who scored very high in their monthly clean up reports. It was a close call between the two villages but one showed no complaints from the NES report and Tutaka results and this ultimately put them in the lead.

Tupuranga Tangata category judges villages on their community efforts to address issues of crime, dogs and other pests, and all other safety related issues in their communities.

First place: Te Are Manu - $1,500
Second place: Tupapa Maraerenga Community Watch-$700
Third place: Matavera District Committee - $300

Nominations are received via the Oire Committees and the Vaka Pride Committee awards prizes according to the criteria and the effectiveness of the community initiative to address the issues. Te Are Manu operates on a volunteer basis and provides services to the animals on the island such as spaying, medication, nurturing animals back to full recovery and so forth. They need all the assistance that they can get to assist with their operations.

Tupapa Maraerenga Community Policing addresses the issue of crime through their neighbourhood watch. The Matavera District committee have taken on a new initiative of monitoring the dog issues and wandering complaints.

Peu Maori category judges villages on their efforts to maintain the overall tidiness of their villages and surrounding areas. This round of the Vaka Pride competition focused on, ‘plantations and produce growing’ as avid gardeners prepare to harvest their vegetables and root crops for distribution to the community and the tourism industry.

Individuals within each village, working in the focus areas are nominated by their village committees to receive special prizes from the Vaka Pride Committee. The prizes were awarded in the form of vouchers from CITC building Centre.

First place: Unakea Kauvai - $500 Voucher from CITC building centre
Second place: Arthur Matenga - $250 Voucher from CITC building centre
Third place: Tinirau Tamarua - $250 Voucher from CITC building centre