Two sides of the same coin!

Kia Ora,

Just finished my rotation on security task in the red zone of the Christchurch CBD. Again my favourite punching bag at present, Civil Defence, are doing their best to make a right mess of the efforts. But they are also receiving what I would regard as unfair criticism in other areas.

There is the issue of how the cordons etc are run shows that part of Civil Defence could not run a piss up at a brewery. The police & military provide the bodies but Civil Defence are the ones saying how it is manned & all can see that within the outer cordon there is not a lot of co ordination on some inner areas.

In fact the main issue is the one that has lead to the other unfair criticism. It is the lack of information & poor communication.

The Military are getting one brief, the police briefings are different altogether & as private security we are often finding out information that neither of them are getting that might just be important.

Such as a certain building was suddenly thought likely to collapse shortly, fences were erected & someone who had a right too told one of our team that nobody was to enter that area. Only information given to the likes of police & miltary was to be aware of this building although someone was positioned to keep people out but only at one point.

To top off the poor information flow the website for all updated information keeps saying at different times that the specific area of the builidng in question is due to be opened up. Seems the left hand does not know what the right hand is doing. We were told it is a no go, the police/military to be aware & the public it will opened shortly to owners/residents then the public.

This all really needs to be cleared up so everyone is on the same wavelength including police communications which is not now in Christchurch but you tend to get Auckland & they try to tell you to do things that you just can't do in the Red Zone or even Christchurch these days. One suggestion might work in normal circumstances but not in how people are reacting here at present & not what you have to do to ensure people are safe.

But as I said there is two sides to the coin in this.

Whilst it is the lack of information & poor communication that is the real cause of this issue much of the criticism is just wrong.

As a small business owner who has only just been able to get their vehicle back I understand how hard it is for those who are not able to access their premises or even worse had their premises torn down. However they are not been realistic when they, in regards to the demolition of properties, complain about how they were not told.

From those of us working inside the red zone so far I have not heard one person say that the deconstruction is too over the top. In fact the general feeling I have observed is it is been done too PC, too slow. Diggers have been used to make properties as safe as possible to allow items to be retreived if that is possible. What is needed right now is the biggest bulldozer in the world to go through the CBD & start again.

As one police officer commented when we were talking about a large building expected to topple "But every building in the CBD leaning one way or another!" As days go on more are becoming unstable.

One unofficial role we have picked up were we are basing ourselves is guides to those from out of town such as many of the police. Last night one exchange just highlighted the issues that many do not realize when wanting to get to their properties. A police vehicle stops & asks where a certain large building is which we provide directions too. "Oh have been past it!" Apparently over the radio net had come "if you hear that building start creaking run like hell!".

Just every night you see another building starting to lean a bit more. All it is likely to need is just one of the those properties to come down & the weight hitting the ground(or another building) could set off others.

Many of those buildings have looked Ok or still do unless you really look then notice just a twist or a lean. The taller the building the less of a lean it needs before it becomes a danger. On one of the buildings we are securing the walls are starting to slide ever so slightly each day from the bottom into a natural valley at that point(sorry more information would identify it & right now we can't do that).

Too many people are still placing faith in a green sticker which as shown in the CTV & PGC buildings collapse mean nothing. In fact the green sticker says property needs further independant investigation. I know of relations who were extremely uncomfortable & feeling unsafe entering one of those buildings recently. They were to re enter it the morning following the earthquake.

It would be nice to let people get as much as possible out it is just not always possible. Even to make some areas safer to allow some access parts have had to be partially deconstructed to allow safe access & this process has also upset business owners. One complaining that someone should of let them recover their tables & chairs outside. That building & the ones next to it were too dangerous to go near without partial deconstruction.

We are carrying out a 24 hour security task & on some nights you can hear windows smashing or parts falling off buildings when there are a few good aftershocks or it is windy.

Meanwhile there are still residents trying to walk around or just abuse people for not letting them go where they want, suspicious characters outside the cordon, vagrants in the area & recently a vehicle driving around abusing the outer cordon.

Civil Defence need to get their communication sorted so the flow of information is correct & the information is correct. The public should not be getting the information before those that are going to deal with it on the cordon or inside the cordon do. The information also needs to be the same across the board.

As harsh as it may be, business owners & residents of the red zone like many New Zealanders have to start facing reality. Someone commented that when out with a relation they took note that many, even in Christchurch are only three weeks on, carrying on like nothing has happened whilst others are struggling to even have the basics.

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