Wellington sewage spill: $5365-a-day Moa Point Crown review cops it from critics
Wednesday, 18 March 2026
The $5365-a-day Crown review into Moa Point’s sewerage disaster is being headed by a former Wellington Water director – a detail not disclosed when Local Government Minister Simon Watts made his announcement.
There is also concern the four-member Crown review team “is not expected to determine the mechanical or technical cause of the wastewater plant’s failure” and that hearings can be conducted entirely behind closed doors.
A catastrophic failure at the Moa Point sewage treatment plant on February 4 caused extensive damage and resulted in 70 million litres of untreated wastewater to be discharged just off the south coast.
Watts last week announced details of a Crown review, led by Water Services Authority – Taumata Arowai chairperson Raveen Jaduram.
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Wellington Water and the council will pay Jaduram $1645 a day to do the review, with the three other members on the team earning $1240 a day.
Not mentioned in Watts’ announcement was the fact that Jaduram was a director of Wellington Water from January 2015 to December 2016.
South Coast resident Eugene Doyle, who was on a 2020 mayoral task force into the city’s water infrastructure, believe the review chairperson’s former Wellington Water directorship should have been revealed.
He feared “another report that doesn’t expose the real issues, identify responsibility and ensure we fix it in the long-term”. There was a sense Wellington Water was “investigating themselves” when looking at the technical aspects of the failure.
The situation “smells as bad as the outfall at Moa Point”, he said.
At a recent public meeting into the disaster, the loudest crowd cheer came when the call was made, by Doyle, to have the Crown review hearings in public.
The Department of Internal Affairs (DIA) this week confirmed the review team “may engage with the community”, but was under no obligation to hold hearings in public.
The Post asked to speak to Jaduram, but DIA responded on his behalf.
Jaduram, who had “extensive” experience in water services, disclosed he was a former Wellington Water director during his appointment process and a plan was in place to manage “perceived conflicts”, a spokesperson said.
A statement from Watts’ office confirmed he was aware Jaduram was a former Wellington Water director, but did not say why was not revealed publicly.
The Crown review will examine how Wellington Water and the city council “governed, managed, maintained, and oversaw the Moa Point plant, including how they responded to risks being raised and performance information”.
The Greater Wellington Regional Council is conducting its own investigation, independent of the Crown review.
A joint statement from Rongotai MP Julie Anne Genter and Wellington Central MP Tamatha Paul raised “serious concerns” about the Crown review process.
“It appears the Government has not set the review up to do the job that Wellingtonians need it to do.”
The fact Wellington Water was charged with investigating the mechanical or technical failure was “absurd”.
“This undermines the review and will result in many people seeing it as a pointless exercise. Minister Simon Watts needs to amend the terms of reference to make determining the mechanical or technical cause of the failure a priority.”
There was a chance the review would look into the period when Jaduram was a director.
“One of the loudest calls we’ve heard from the public has been that this process must not be done behind closed doors. People need to be able see for themselves exactly how this disaster gets investigated so that they can be confident everything possible has been done to ensure that this never happens again.
“The review team needs to assure Wellingtonians it will hold its sessions in public.”