New Zealand government installing final seal at Pike River mine wsws.org - get the latest breaking news, showbiz & celebrity photos, sport news & rumours, viral videos and top stories from wsws.org Daily Mail and Mail on Sunday newspapers.
Former deputy PM says New Zealand government is covering up mine disaster
The Labour Party-led government’s Pike River Recovery Agency (PRRA) is continuing work on sealing the Pike River coal mine where 29 people were killed in the November 2010 disaster. The aim is to prevent the examination of crucial evidence about what sparked a series of explosions.
For more than a decade the political establishment has protected those responsible for the disaster, including former managers, chief executives and directors of Pike River Coal. A 2012 royal commission of inquiry established that the company endangered its workers’ lives in order to save money. The mine had grossly inadequate ventilation and methane gas monitoring, an extremely dangerous underground fan, and no emergency exit as required by law. No one has ever been held accountable for turning the mine into a death trap.
A number of Pike River families and supporters have begun protesting at the site of the mine this morning against the government s decision to close the recovery project.
Bernie Monk s son was one of the 29 mineworkers killed. (File photo).
Photo: Pike River Recovery Agency
The government announced in March there would be no more money to expand the project after the Recovery Agency reached the furthest point for the drift recovery efforts last month.
But the group representing 22 families of Pike River victims are refusing to accept the decision.
This morning, more than two dozen people showed up at the site of the disaster to begin a protest, which they have warned, will continue for as long as it takes.
Pike River families picket to stop mine being sealed stuff.co.nz - get the latest breaking news, showbiz & celebrity photos, sport news & rumours, viral videos and top stories from stuff.co.nz Daily Mail and Mail on Sunday newspapers.