Speed of Kaikoura slip repairs a scandal

What kind of scandal is this? I am led to believe that road gangs working on clearing the massive slips on State Highway 1 north of Kaikoura are only operating on a five-daysa-week, 8am-to-5pm schedule.

We’re not talking about ‘‘elective surgery’’ here. This is the most vital road link in the South Island. The ramifications have been clearly demonstrated in the chaos on the alternative route through Murchison and over the Lewis Pass.

Big cheese Nick Smith has opened a couple of one-to-two-lane bridge conversions! The absolute priority should be to have teams working dawn to dusk, seven days a week on the slips.

‘‘Reopened by Christmas’’ is not soon enough. I have no doubt that the Jaffas will be going non-stop to repair flood damage in the Coromandel. There seems to be a conspiracy among big-business vested interests to milk the maximum profit from the Kaikoura repairs, while the travelling public and daily commerce suffer the fallout.

Do we need an independent inquiry into this debacle? Neil Stevenson Westport

Not enough progress

It’s now four months since the Kaikoura earthquakes and the highway from Christchurch to Picton is still not open.

I acknowledge that there are many slips that have caused chaos and the remedial work will require many man hours. Instead of a few contractors working a few hours, why not have every available contractor working as many hours as possible to get the job done in as short a period as possible?

I think that if we were talking about the Kapiti highway or the road from Auckland to Orewa, more progress would be evident. Come on, NZTA. Dereck Porter New Brighton