A Greymouth sorrow
The last seven days since the Pike River Mine explosion has been numbing. The sheer loss of life in one moment doesn't happen at work in NZ, the media saturated suddenness has been disorienting and the sorrow universal.
The grief stoically shouldered by Greymouth is humbling and coupled with the Christchurch quake makes the counting of blessings this Christmas feel earned.
The Police should be respected for their caution and the integrity in assessing the response. I don't doubt the genuineness of those who out of frustration volunteered to lead rescue attempts, but asking others to risk their lives, to actually order it yourself is a responsibility that demands a consideration of the highest confidences, thankfully our maturity prevented further tragedy.
How this happened must be fully and transparently investigated out of respect for those whanau who have had loved ones taken from them so painfully. The mines expansion plans must be scrutinized.
What a terribly sad loss.
posted by Bomber @ 8:50 am
10 comments
10 Comments:
Good post Bomber.
It was interesting the sheer irresponsibility of some in the media and blogosphere such as Ian Wishart who were calling the cops cowards and demanding that they make an entrance. It was disheartening to see the amount of pig ignorant 'real kiwis' also jumping on the bandwagon slamming the mine experts.
We can be thankful that we do have a Police force that is independent of public sentiment and the baying of the angry mob, evidenced not solely in this case but in Howard Broad coming out himself against prison sentences and the ethos of the SST, damning the university of crime that prisons foster.
We must allow open pit mining so as to avoid this tragedy in the future. Its awfully simple.
Peter Whittle should be the prime minister
Peter Whittle should be the prime minister
Not so fast.
He has certainly done a good job since the explosion.
It remains to be seen whether he, and the company at large, did a good job in the months and weeks prior to the explosion.
Peter Whittle should be the prime minister
Whittle is an effective communicator and seems to have deep compassion for his men.
But don't overdo the adulation just yet.
Whittle is the CEO of the company. Under the H&S Act Whittle is the principal. The principal is the guy who is responsible for the well-being and safety of everyone associated with his site. That literally means everyone -contractors, subcontractors, delivery staff, visitors, or even trespassers. Whittle by virtue of his position has to assume the main responsibility for these tragic events, morally as well as legally.
If the safety protocols, and practices implemented under him are in the end shown to be inadequate (as I feel they will be), Whittle is going to have to answer a lot of very hard questions.
It is amazing how many people are suckered into believing an employer who just had 29 of his employees die on the job, should be man of the year, simply because of a great media performance.
Wherease, I think the relatively inarticulate Knowles was great, and I believe the decisions he made will be vindicated in the long run by any logical and unsentimental analysis. Knowles was straight-up, to the point, and completely uncontrived. We need more cops like him.
Why do u celebrate Christmas as a hater of Christians??
I think it wise to wait for the coroners report before casting judgment on the speed of the rescue response.
I hope to God they died earlier & quickly & were'nt waiting for rescue right up to the last explosion..
Peter Whittle for PM... oh right... esp in light of this : http://nzagainstthecurrent.blogspot.com/2010/11/whitall-claimed-mine-was-non-outburst.html
the terrain and the 5000 mm p.a. of rain in the Papamoa ranges make open cast ming a non- starter. Wait for the spin blaming the Green movement for disallowing open cast mining in our National Parks. Never let the truth stand in the way of a good story as they say in NACTional's propaganda dept. And all the sheeple who'never been to the Coast let alone lived there wil go baaaaa!
Revealing.
http://www.guardian.co.uk/discussion/user-comments/DennisP
pinched from the standard
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