REFILL & SAVE
Howick and Pakuranga
JH14879
9Kg
AWARD-WINNING VOICE OF THE COMMUNITY – NZCNA Thursday, March 14, 2019
Est. 1972
HIGHLAND PARK 489 PAKURANGA ROAD PH: 09 535 0473
OPPOSITE PAKURANGA COLLEGE
LPG REFILLS $25
General 271 8000 ■ Classified 271 8055 ■ Delivery Enquiries 271 8000 ■ Website www.times.co.nz
OPEN 7 DAYS 8am-8pm ★ Brand new machines ★ Quick Service
3/60 Ti Rakau Dr, Pakuranga (Next to Tai Ping Supermarket)
PHONE 576 6952
CP0335
Vol 48, No 10
Howick Hop Rain was no bother for the many visitors to the Howick Hop on Saturday. More on page 17 Times photos Wayne Martin
Students left behind as bus overcrowding continues By THERESE HENKIN
W
ith heavy backpacks and their first lesson to get to, seven Somerville Intermediate students were stranded at the bus stop on Tuesday morning thanks to an overcrowded bus. This isn’t the first time it’s happened and parents suspect it won’t be the last. Jatinder Sidhu says she waits with her daughter Samar at the bus stop
every morning to make sure there’s enough room for her on the bus. Samar, who is in her first year at Somerville Intermediate, catches the 434 bus from 470 Chapel Road which also services Botany Downs Secondary College, Howick Intermediate and Howick College during the school term. “The buses that come through Chapel Road and Kilkenny Drive are always full,” Jatinder says. “When the bus arrives children
are either seated on the floor or standing all the way from the back of the bus to right next to the bus driver.” On several occasions the bus has been so full that her daughter and several others from Somerville Intermediate have been left behind at the bus stop. “The bus drivers sometimes have to stop more children from getting on and, rightly so, because children are so squished together they can
hardly move,” she says. “Somerville school has come to help many times by sending their school van to pick up the stranded students.” The problem with this, she says, is that often by the time the Somerville van arrives, the kids are already late to school and miss part of their first class. “It is a very sad state to see children in such a situation in the morning. They are about to begin
the school day, and they should be focussed but instead they are exhausted by the time they reach the school gates.” Jatinder says she and the other parents are starting their work days late because they can’t just leave their kids at the bus stop, in case the bus doesn’t take them. There must be “little hope” for the children waiting at the five stops after her daughters, she says. ➤ Turn to Page 3
Beautiful serviced apartment available now! For more information phone Rose on 535 0225 KC13860