The sculpture has been shrouded in secrecy for well over a year, and the university has been reluctant to provide updates, reiterating previous comment that it will be unveiled at the appropriate time.
Located between the Water of Leith and the St David St lecture theatre, the sculpture was enveloped first by scaffolding and black plastic, and more recently by a large white cube to shield it from the view of curious passers-by.
Any public interest in a cost breakdown of the pou whenua was outweighed by other considerations, it said in response to an Official Information Act request by the Otago Daily Times.
In the OIA response, the university cited a meeting the ODT had with the office of Māori development last year to discuss the sculpture where it highlighted the need for tikanga Māori to be respected.
"In light of this, we consider any ongoing information requests in relation to the pou whenua to be of a vexatious nature and culturally insensitive."
The university needed to protect confidential information between itself, contractors and Ngāi Tahu.
Revealing the information was likely to impact the supply of other information.
"It is in the public interest that such information continues to be supplied, such that the university is able to work efficiently and effectively with its contractors and relevant stakeholders."
Making the project costs available would also be likely to prejudice the commercial position of contractors, the university said.
"In the interests of transparency, we note that the main costs include labour costs, including for the artist, the costs of scaffolding, transport, storage and materials."
The university confirmed the sculpture had not yet been completed in response to an Official Information Act request last month.
It did not initially answer the question of when it would be finished, but when prompted to state whether it was expected it would be completed this year, it said it did not hold that information and was not obliged to form an opinion.
"We do not have an expected time of completion."
The sculpture would be revealed to the public once the remaining work and the appropriate tikanga Māori measures had been completed, both responses said.
"The project is a joint project between the University of Otago and mana whenua and one which we will be very proud to unveil at the appropriate time."
