Unwelcome Christmas Present from MAF

WASP spokesperson, Helen Wiseman-Dare said today that MAF's announcement of three more aerial sprays before Christmas meant there was a very high likelihood that children would be sprayed at their Santa Parades and families would be sprayed while doing their Christmas shopping.

WASP are also concerned that children and the elderly could suffer heat effects through being sealed up in their homes and schools in the heat of summer to avoid the spray. Helen Wiseman-Dare says she has been inundated with calls from people suffering adverse health effects as a result of the last spraying, many of whom are teachers at schools in the spray zone.

She says teachers found it almost impossible to keep children sealed inside their classrooms for the whole day with spraying not finishing till after 5.30pm in some areas.

Commuters were sprayed alighting from trains at the New Lynn Railway Station at 5.30 pm, she said and that the Fokker Friendship aeroplane passed so low over Lynnmall, spraying four times and shaking the building, that a woman shopping inside panicked, thinking it was a terrorist attack.

She has also been told of some residents who had been evacuated by MAF being caught outside as MAF transferred them between venues. Among those doused in spray outside the Monterey restaurant near Whenuapai Airport were a pregnant woman and a number of children all of whom subsequently reported adverse health effects.

She says that residents have also reported sightings of aircraft flying low overhead, spraying, in the days leading up to the official spray day. Some residents have reported typical spray symptoms from this spraying some of which took place at night. MAF are denying any such non notified spraying took place.

West Auckland schools are meeting at 7pm on Thursday 7th November at Henderson High School Hall, Henderson Valley Road to discuss how best to protect children who were sprayed on the way to school, at school and on the way home from school during the 11 and a half hours of spraying. Many children were terrified by the low flying aeroplanes. The next spraying is likely to coincide with senior pupils sitting external exams.

West Aucklanders Against Aerial Spraying (WASP) are planning a waterfront Protest March at 11.00 am, November 9th, starting from Quay St outside the Viaduct Basin entrance. WASP's aim is to show all the overseas visitors that NZ is not the clean, green place it's made out to be. We wish to welcome them to the land of the long, white SPRAY cloud.

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