Gough Calls for Common Sense to Business Recovery

Christchurch City Councillor Jamie Gough is calling for a common sense approach when clearing Christchurch business sites in the wake of the earthquake.

“There is key intellectual property on servers and payroll information that desperately needs to be retrieved if they [businesses] are to be able to remain in existence.”

Structural engineers are currently evaluating buildings throughout the city and Councillor Gough believes at this point in the recovery process it is imperative that businesses are able to recover vital information. “If someone can’t be designated to accompany an engineer into their premises then there needs to be an opportunity to at least give clear and concise instructions to those inside as to what essential items need to be retrieved.”

Gough says in a lot of instances it would be as simple as “picking up a flash-drive while they were there.”

Gough says he has been inundated with calls and attended meetings with local business owners and operators desperate to recover information within their offices which cannot be recreated. “It will at least allow them to place their business on some form of intermediate life-support until we ultimately rise up from this.”

Staff information and vital records which businesses rely on are within many buildings that engineers are presently accessing.

Gough is concerned that a lack of business payroll information may lead to more hardship that we can ill afford. “We cannot allow families to suffer any more financial uncertainty through lack of wages at this time.”

“I am just thankful for those whose lives have been spared however for those who are committed to remain and rebuild this city, there must be an opportunity for them to retrieve data that allows them to do that.”

Gough believes that no public should be able to enter buildings that are in danger of imminent collapse, “human life must be our unparalleled priority and no price or piece of information can be put on that. We’ve lost enough.” Gough says “if buildings are yellow or green stickered though, there needs to be an opportunity for crucial data to be retrieved.”

“I suppose this whole thing a good advertisement for cloud-computing” Councillor Gough says.

ENDS

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