AMI Stadium will need insurer’s tick for Rugby World Cup
AMI Stadium will need insurer’s tick for Rugby World Cup
March 3 (BusinessDesk) – Christchurch’s
AMI Stadium will require international insurer sign-off
before it can be confirmed as an official venue for the
Rugby World Cup, Prime Minister John Key says.
Key made
the comments at a press conference marking the passage of
the “rescue” operation in the Christchuch central
business district to a “recovery” phase, in the belief
that there are now no further survivors in the rubble from
the Feb. 22 earthquake, which devastated New Zealand’s
second largest city nine days ago.
Christchurch mayor Bob Parker said today that he had conveyed to Key that ''the citizens of this city will be far from pleased if they miss out on an event that has taken on a different meaning to the people of Christchurch and the people of Canterbury.”
Key said it would take “at least six months” to clear the central business district because of the scale of damage from the 6.3 magnitude earthquake that struck at 12.51 p.m. on Feb. 22.
The current death toll is 161 with around 200 people still missing, a police statement late today said. A national memorial service, and possibly an official national day of mourning, will be held before the end of the month, with delays occasioned by the need for people from as many as 20 others countries to make travel arrangements.
The government is considering what kind of inquiry to hold into the aftermath of the quake, including the possibility of a Royal Commission of Inquiry, as ordered for the Pike River coal mine disaster last Nov.
The change to a recovery operation will allow swifter removal of debris and will be accompanied by a gradual improvement in access to the CBD. Many Christchurch businesses are clamouring to return to condemned office buildings to secure vital files and equipment.
(BusinessDesk) 18:45:51