Pike River re-entry plans gives families 'closure they've been waiting for', Greymouth mayor says

November 14, 2018

Tony Kokshoorn spoke to Breakfast this morning about the mood in the West Coast following news of plans for re-entry.

The Pike River Mine drift will be re-entered eight years after the disaster killed 29 men on the West Coast, Andrew Little announced today.

Grey District Mayor Tony Kokshoorn told TVNZ's Breakfast this morning that the plans for re-entry is "great news".

"We've been waiting for this for eight years. Thanks to Andrew Little, Winston Peters and the coalition government, this is finally going to happen – by going down the single entry drift, which is the quickest way. This is really good news for us West Coasters who have been waiting for closure for all those years," Mr Kokshoorn said.

He said the announcement was "actually quite emotional to know that finally, eight years later, they are going to move down that drift".

"We went through five days of hell when the explosion first happened [...] It was so emotional - it was so sad to see the families have to go through what they went through.

"We know there's a rockfall down that drift, but we do know that 400 metres hasn't been explored . That's the least we can do for the families – eliminate any bodies that could have been in that drift so they can have the closure they've been waiting for."

The Greymouth mayor said the Pike River families have received support from the community throughout their almost decade-long ordeal.

"West Coasters have supported the families right through. There have been some people that have said this is a waste of money but, if you think about government expenditure each year of $82 billion, that's a lot of money. This is just a drop in the ocean."

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