Kaikoura needs more, says Peters after visit
Not enough is being done on the Kaikoura earthquake recovery, says New Zealand First leader Winston Peters.
Roads are closed into it, the bite of winter is about to pinch and business is down by up to 60 per cent in places six months on from when the magnitude-7.8 earthquake struck last year.
Peters spent an afternoon in the town on Wednesday, with transport spokesman Denis O’Rourke talking to business owners who approached the party for help.
‘‘People had been coming to us saying we think a lot more can be happening and so far we are not clearly convinced the optimum effort has been made to get that road open as soon as possible,’’ Peters said.
‘‘The No 1 thing that needs to be done is to rebuild the transport roading infrastructure so this town is reconnected with the New Zealand economy.’’
Peters, who flew down the coast earlier in the day, said he saw countless places without machines or workers.
‘‘You can almost bet the road is not going to be open by this summer. If they’re not working weekends, or longer hours, that’s countless days that are going to waste.’’
NZ Transport Agency earthquake recovery manager Steven Mutton said the highway would be fully functional by Christmas, with both lanes open and no traffic management in place.
Peters was concerned the Government’s business refinancing package was inadequate for Kaikoura and many businesses would go to the wall because of the delay.
Business needed a bridging arrangement to take them to the next recovery period, and that would not be this Christmas, even if the road was open, Peters said.
It could be 18 months before businesses were back to where they should be, he said.