The Ngati Toa land claim has dragged on for years, due to the Crown’s insistence on splitting up the claim into five regions: Wellington, Kapiti, Hutt Valley, Horowhenua, and Te Tau Ihu. The claim began in 1989 and covers the land on both sides of the Cook Strait. The Wellington claim has been heard, the Te Tau Ihu claim is underway, and the Kapiti claim is scheduled for 2010. The problem is that the claimants, who are key witnesses, are dying of old age, and there are currently only four left from the original fourteen. The Ngati Toa’s lawyer, Kim Bellingham, has lodged a complaint about the slow pace of the process, which is depriving her of witnesses and causing the same case to be retold repeatedly.
