In a nutshell, the council, its water management company and the contractor were all a bit shit at their jobs.
And Wellington's South Coast has been shat on.
14 billion litres of raw sewage, to be precise.
None of them took charge of and ownership of the water treatment plant.
And they didn't talk to each other, or listen, to some quite critical information and warnings.
Anyone getting Mount Manganui vibes here?
But the part that gets me, and should get us all, is the no show from ratepayer-funded bureaucrats ducking for cover.
Council infrastructure leaders, who clearly are leaders in job title only, did not meet with the Crown Review team to tell them about their role in this shambles.
They were asked for in-person meetings. They were asked to sit down in front of somebody and explain themselves.
And they ran. They ducked. They gave written responses.
14 billion litres of Wellington's digested breakfasts on the beach deserves more than written answers.
It's like the politicians who dodged the Covid inquiry.
Why would you do not front up in person unless you had something to hide?
Why would you not speak in person, unless you were worried about what you'd say?
Did lawyers and comms staff, at ratepayer's expense, review all those written responses before you hit send?
People don't necessarily lose trust in councils over mistakes. Mistakes happen to us all.
Coverups and accountability dodgers. They're the ones who flush our trust down the toilet.
Ryan Bridge is a New Zealand broadcaster who has worked on many current affairs television and radio shows. He currently hosts Newstalk ZB's Early Edition - where this article was sourced.
4 comments:
And it proves that even under a pretend kick arse bunch of pretend right wing pretend leaders being Seymour, Lux & Peters, who present themselves as change makers on grand issues internationally and nationally, they can't even fix the sewerage spewing a mile from the Beehive after a year. Nor prevent the complete lack of accountability on the issue as government officials, law firms and accounting firms bank wages & fees & run for cover. NZ is broken and those three never had the competence to fix it, with do nothing student politician Labour's Hipkins being echelons worse. My view is that our democracy has reached the point of collapse in terms of its ability to deliver. New Zealanders cannot afford simple things now & no party has offered, nor has plans, to fix that situation. They can't even fix the plumbing.
Whats more the Council CEO and Infrastructure Manager are on leave and not available to front to media. I wonder whether they knew what was coming. One guess. A $mil paid to them by ratepayers for salaries between them and they won't front. Accountability anyone?
I sort of agree with Robert. NZ is broken. We are at the point of collapse. There is no accountability. But Luxon, Peters and Seymour are trying to stand up to the rot. Unfortunately they are probably losing...there is just too much incompetence, and far left ideology wokeness entrenched in public service that the tipping point has been definately reached. Labour, Greens Top and TPM are nothing but the ROT. Why do we reward incompetence and losers in this country?
That's it Robert MacCulloch , you have presented yourself as an expert commentator , however you are from a small nation NZ university with limited real universal standing .
What on earth do you expect the Coalition leadership team to do when sewage has bypassed the planned system .
NZ has now been informed that the Moa Point sewage treatment facility was only partially constructed years ago.
You owe an apology to the Coalition leaders, none of whom live permanently in Wellington and should focus on the Wellington council for your diatribes.
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