Brownlee blissfully ignorant of EQC system
I can control myself no longer!
Yesterday’s churlish attempt by Earthquake Recovery Minister Gerry Brownlee to deflect yet more attention away from himself and the EQC only proves that he is blissfully ignorant of the system he seeks to defend.
When EQC holds a file as under cap, it doesn’t keep insurers informed, so regardless of what he says, the first intimation the insurer has that a claim is over cap is when it’s dumped on their desk, usually after about 20 full scopes have been done, and they have been pestered to do the job correctly by a completely frustrated property owner.
Having been intimately involved in seeing the EQC interface with insurers, and as part of the insurance process myself, I can only imagine the angst that some people will be feeling now, some five years after the first major earthquake.
I can state without fear of contradiction that the sooner EQC reinvents itself to be a reinsurer, with no involvement in the claims process but to write cheques, the better.
But then I said this in September 2011, in another letter to The Press. CHRIS BENSON Kennedys Bush
Pedestrian danger
It is absurd that the historic Bishopscourt building is being demolished for ‘‘inconveniencing’’ surrounding residents when, 100 metres away, pedestrians have been forced onto busy Victoria St for more than two years, due to the ugly former Spagalimis restaurant building on the corner of Dorset St.
I have seen many people almost run over by vehicles veering around (or even knocking over) the ‘‘protecting’’ red cones to turn into Dorset St.
To add insult to almost certain injury a large traffic arrow has been placed at head height at one end of the pedestrian ‘‘walkway’’ on Victoria St. I have seen or heard of at least three people who have butted heads (literally) with it.
Meanwhile the only danger, if any, to pedestrians from the building appears to be a cheap wooden facade, with dangling, spot lights that could easily be removed.
How long are property owners allowed to endanger pedestrians while they presumably argue insurance issues?
Is anyone actually monitoring these properties or are they simply left in perpetuity?
PAUL CROOKS Central Christchurch
Skinny seals
You ran a story (Sept 17) regarding the poor condition of seals and DOC’s intention to take necropsies. May I suggest DOC test the samples for tuberculosis. D Cousins et al (2003) record Tb as relatively common in Southern Hemisphere seals, and this could be a cause of their poor condition. It could also explain the persistence of Tb in some coastal cattle herds rarely exposed to possums. Perhaps a DOC and Tb Free ‘‘Battle for the Cattle’’ with 1080 laced fish baits on the beaches. BILL WALLACE
Collingwood