Show Your Colour Crusade: Mass Rally & March for All Zones

Call for an Independent Advocacy Commission

WeCan! the Wider Earthquake Communities Action Network has called for a ‘Show Your Colour Crusade’, a mass rally and march this Saturday in Cranmer Square Christchurch.

WeCan! is asking Cantabrians to bring a cross painted the colour of their zone, ‘symbolising the burden of their land’. “We will march to CERA with a giant ‘cross of many colours’ to which we will nail a letter to all New Zealanders outside CERA’s door.” says WeCan! spokesperson, Rev Mike Coleman.

“This crusade is for everyone, the broad spectrum of zone colours: red, orange, white, green, blue, yellow, grey - and those in the uninsured black zone! We each have our different frustrations and disputes with the recovery agencies, whether they be insurance companies, EQC, contractors or CERA. Its now time to hold them to account”

“Householders have been left to deal with the big corporates and government agencies alone. There is a desperate need for an independent Advocacy Commission to act on behalf of residents and communities to address the power imbalance.”

According to the network there are problems in all zones. The new blue zone homeowners now find their land ‘stigmatised’ as broken and vulnerable and likely to be blighted by additional redevelopment costs and lower market value.

The orange and white zones still endure the stress and frustration of waiting and ‘broken promises’. Red zone folk continue to battle to move or fight to stay, with many with no suitable affordable rehousing options or undervalued RVs.

Other green zone householders, the yellow and the grey, do not escape the frustrations, with many enduring long waits for EQC and insurance assessments or encountering shoddy repair work. Finally WeCan! has also identified a ‘black’ zone – the uninsured and underinsured, a significant but forgotten minority.

“Then there are the issues that affect us all. What will happen to the vacated red zone lands? What will be left of our heritage buildings, our iconic Cathedral? We all have an interest in these.” says Coleman.

“There is no transparency, no honesty, no accountability. It’s time the community was heard!”

“Cantabrians need their own independent Advocacy Commission so fairness will prevail!”

The rally will be held at 2pm in Cranmer Square on Saturday 19 November.

ENDS

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