CTV families slam length of investigation by engineer s body
9 Feb, 2021 09:20 PM
4 minutes to read
Police and volunteers work to rescue people trapped in the collapsed CTV building. Photo / NZH
RNZ
Families of the 115 people killed in the collapse of the CTV building are bewildered at the length of time it is taking to investigate the man whose company designed it.
Engineering New Zealand, formerly known as IPENZ, was first asked to investigate Alan Reay eight years ago, and some believed the organisation s credibility was on the line.
In 2012 a Royal Commission found that engineer David Harding made fundamental errors in designing the ill-fated building and criticised his boss, Alan Reay, for handing sole responsibility for the design over to somebody so inexperienced.
Photo: AFP PHOTO / HO / USAR
Police decided in 2017 not to lay 115 charges of manslaughter against the building s designer David Harding, and his employer Alan Reay.
The decision followed advice from the Solicitor General that a prosecution would not succeed.
Last year, the families complained to the IPCA.
In September this year, the authority said it had no jurisdiction over decisions made by Crown Law.
Maan Alkaisi
Photo: RNZ / Richard Tindiller
Families spokesperson Maan Alkaisi said despite this, the battle for justice would continue. We have never seen a worse design than this building, there s definitely a major departure [from the expected standard]. Even the IPCA admitted that there are numerous design deficiencies and a major departure.
COVID-19 economy: Huge job losses hammer Bay Area hotels, restaurants [The Mercury News :: BC-CORONAVIRUS-BAYAREA-ECONOMY:SJ]
SAN JOSE, Calif. Coronavirus-linked economic woes unleashed mammoth job losses for hotels and restaurants in the Bay Area and all of California last year, as business travel, tourism and dining out shriveled, an analysis of new reports shows.
The Bay Area lost well over 100,000 hotel and restaurant jobs, a drop of 33.6 percent from 2019, according to figures compiled by Beacon Economics that were analyzed by this news organization.
In California, the economic setbacks erased nearly a half-million lodging and dining jobs, a 29 percent drop from the prior year.
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The pandemic took its toll on hotel development across the state and locally as both developers and lenders grew skittish about moving ahead with projects large and small.
Statewide, the total number of rooms in newly opened properties fell by 39 percent, while in San Diego County the decline 60 percent was even more dramatic, with just 665 new rooms in six hotels debuting last year, compared with 1,668 rooms in 10 new hotels the year before, according to Atlas Hospitality Group’s year-end report released this week.
Among the more notable local openings last year was the 126-room hotel attached to Legacy International Center, the $190 million Bible-themed resort in Mission Valley conceived by the late televangelist Morris Cerullo. While the hotel opened in early 2020, its multiple attractions, including a domed theater, are not open because of COVID-19 restrictions.
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After more than a half-century of family ownership, the Welk Resorts portfolio, including the original Escondido location, is being sold to Marriott Vacations Worldwide Corporation for $430 million.
Once the still pending sale is finalized by early in the second quarter Marriott says it plans to rebrand the Welk vacation resorts in California, Colorado, Missouri, New Mexico and Cabo San Lucas as Hyatt Residence Club properties. The purchase price includes roughly 1.4 million Marriott Vacations common shares.
The acquisition represents a major milestone for a company started 57 years ago by the late television bandleader Lawrence Welk, whose hospitality empire took root in 1964 when he was driving through rural Escondido and noticed a 100-space mobile home park and an adjacent nine-hole golf course with a clubhouse, 60-seat restaurant and a four-room motel.