Flood response

AFTER reading the headline ‘‘DCC response wins praise’’ (ODT, 25.7.17), I question why? In fact, the Dunedin City Council is just doing what it is paid to do and has a civic responsibility to its ratepayers to perform. I give it no ‘‘praise’’ for actually tasking the servicing of mudtanks in the greater Dunedin area.

Adequate performance today does not excuse complete belligerence and ignorance of the past where it refused to carry out routine servicing of the Dunedin drainage systems and, when challenged on poor performance, delegated the blame to others.

Furthermore, there was a state of emergency put in place, therefore the DCC was obliged under statute (for which it is funded, Civil Defence Emergency Management Act) to provide media broadcasts and information updates to citizens affected.

Some people have a short memory.

C. A. MacAulay

Mosgiel