Fyfe brings airline lessons to mine role
Listening to the wishes of the affected families, and making sure lessons are learnt, will be Rob Fyfe’s priorities as he steps up to advise the Government on the reentry of the Pike River drift.
‘‘One of the things I learnt from my time at Air New Zealand was that the most important priority in the aftermath of a tragedy like this are the family, friends and colleagues of those who lost their lives,’’ he said yesterday.
The former Air New Zealand chief executive, and current chairman of Icebreaker, was appointed to the independent adviser role by Andrew Little, Minister Responsible for Pike River Re-entry.
It was announced yesterday that military man Major General Dave Gawn had been appointed as the head of the Pike River Recovery Agency.
For the past two years Gawn was based in Israel as head of mission and chief of staff for the United Nations Truce Supervision Organisation, overseeing peacekeeping operations for the five signatories of the 1949 Armistice Agreement.
Little is at the formative stages of establishing Te Ka¯ hui Whakamana Rua Tekau ma¯ Iwa – Pike River Recovery Agency, so the terms of reference are still being developed, Fyfe said yesterday.
‘‘The role of independent adviser is intended to help the minister to evaluate the advice received, and to provide him with an independent view of the risk assessment and the processes used to determine any recommendations he receives from the Pike River Recovery Agency.’’
The entry of the mine’s drift, and the recovery of any remains of the 29 men killed in 2010, would be completed by March 2019.