THE MINISTER

ANDREW Little keeps Pike’s miners close. A photo of the 29 men on his office wall is his constant witness.

‘‘They remind me every day of my determination to bring some resolution for their families.’’

He cannot forget them. They died on his watch.

When the mine exploded, Mr Little headed the country’s largest union, the Engineering, Printing and Manufacturing Union (EPMU) — now he is the Minister Responsible for Pike River Reentry.

The union had been ‘‘aware of concerns and issues among the guys around safety and the feeling of being unsafe’’ while the Pike River Coal Company was operating, he said.

The miners were encouraged to fill out nearmiss reports, he said.

‘‘We later found bundles of them in cupboards.’’

Miners had raised issues, ‘‘but many were reluctant to put their heads above the parapet’’.

However, immediately after the first explosion, he told media there was ‘‘nothing unusual about Pike River, or this mine, we have been particularly concerned about’’.

Today, he says the workplace accident should not have happened and was due to failures at corporate level.

The Department of Labour’s oversight was ‘‘woefully inadequate’’ and inspectors were not getting to site, he said.

In defence of the reentry tapping its $51 million financial ceiling, he said noone knew what would be found until the project started.

‘‘It is a huge job and excellent work is being done by Dave Gawn, Dinghy Pattinson and the recovery crew.

‘‘If we can recover the [electrical] gear we can better understand the cause of the initial explosion. That gives us the best explanation for the tragedy.

‘‘If we can recover any remains, it will assist any families and loved ones.

‘‘I think the families would like to know what happened. They would like to see a prosecution. But we have to rely on police to make that judgement. Until now, noone has been called to account.’’

At project’s end, he would like to say everything possible had been done in terms of recovering the drift and forensic information.

And that the effort had helped families step closer to closure.

‘‘There comes a time we have to live with this and recognise we have done everything we can — and it is time to move on.

‘‘I think the disaster is a huge disappointment in this day and age. It blew the sense of confidence the West Coast had at the time.

‘‘But the Coast is an amazing place — they look after their own.’’