Prominent Christchurch residents group CanCERN is so frustrated with the performance of the Earthquake Commission it has asked the board of the EQC to remove the current Chief Executive.
CanCERN sent a letter last week to EQC Chair Michael Wintringham, detailing consistent failures at EQC. The group has asked Mr Wintringham to replace the Chief Executive with someone who is more capable and competent to lead EQC and regain the confidence of Cantabrians.
CanCERN Relationship Manager Leanne Curtis says the attitude of the Earthquake Commissions’ management has led to a breakdown of trust and confidence by the community.
“CanCERN has been meeting with EQC staff since late 2010 but has seen very little evidence of the leadership necessary to lead the Commission through a natural disaster of this scale. For the people of Canterbury to restore any faith in the EQC we need to see a commitment from the EQC board to address the failings of management,” she says.
CanCERN (Canterbury Communities’ Earthquake Recovery Network) is the largest group representing those affected by the Christchurch earthquakes and has a membership of over 40 resident groups.
“The fundamental issues regarding a lack of clarity and communication we were telling EQC about in October 2010 are the same issues we are still talking about in October 2012. EQC leadership has gone from saying they have no problems, to now admitting failures but it is not enough to admit failures without talking solutions. We believe an effective CE would have heard and acted,” says Ms Curtis.
The letter and report sent to Mr Wintringham outlines numerous concerns with EQC’s operations including a history of ignoring community concerns, a reported culture of intimidation in public dealings with claimants, an inability to communicate changes to policy interpretation, time delays and communications failures like calls not being returned, files lost and written correspondence not answered.
source: slightly edited media release from CanCERN
