I whakatūngia e te kamupene ā iwi a Te Whakatōhea Mussels i te whakamānutanga o tā rātou waka hōu ko Kukutai te ingoa. He kaupapa tēnei ka whai hui ai e ngā uri o Te Whakatōhea ki roto o Opōtiki hei ngā tau kei te eke mai.
Ka hua ake he ao mārama anō mā Te Whakatōhea i tēnei kaipuke hou. Nō te tau rua mano i tono ai Te Whakatōhea i te whakaaetanga kia whakatipu kuku ki Opōtiki, tekau tau i tautohe ki te kāwanatanga, rima tau i rangahau ai e ngā kaipūtaiao i te wāhi, katahi ka riro ko te whakaaetanga. I mahi tahi Te Whakatōhea me te kamupene hanga kaipuke a McMullen and Wing i whakautu i te wha miriona tāra ki te hanga i te kaipuke Kukutai, rua tekau mā rima mano ngā hāora kaimahi, wha tekau tana o te konumohe ā tekau marama ki te whakaoti i te mahi. Hei ngā rua wiki ka wehe te kaipuke Kukutai i te Waitematā ka anga atu ki tōna kāinga hōu ki Te Mōana ā Toi ki Opōtiki.
Source: Māori Television Website
Ko tā te heamana o Te Komiti o Te Whakatōhea a Robert Tuahuru Edwards, "Kei te hotuhotu rawa atu te ngākau te manawa, na te koa kua oti i tēnei tīma me kī. Ae he rā whakahirahira tēnei mō Te Whakatōhea."
Anei ko tā Te Kahautu Maxwell mō ngā hua ka whiwhi ki ngā uri o Te Whakatōhea, "He mahi, he mahi i te mea ko tō mātou iwi kei Opōtiki e kore mahi ā nōreira ko te moemoeā o ō mātou mātua, nō rātou te whakāro kia whakatū i te pāmu kuku, anei e puawai mai nei."
Anei ko tā te tumu whakarae ō Te Whakatōhea Mussels a Ian Craig, "I mōhio mai mātou ka taea te whakatipu kuku ki reira, i mōhio mai mātou ka tere tō rātou whakatipu ki konei, ā he iti noa te paruparu kei runga, he nui tō mātou mōhiotanga ki tēnei kaupapa."
Anei ko tā Michael England o te kamupene hanga kaipuke a McMullen & Wing, "Its a lot of work for a lot of people and we're really grateful for that business and thats what we're built on is that business and for us thats a big piece of work for our business over the last 9 or 10 months we've been building it."
I hua mai ai ko te tahi mano rima rau tana ngā kuku i tā rātou pāmu i tēnei tau ā ko te manako nui ka piki ake ki te ono mano tana hei te tau e tu mai nei ā katahi ka tono kia hanga whekeretere hei hanga mahi mā te hapori whānui ki Opōtiki.