Hire company works to relieve quake woes

An Invercargill hire company is working hard to relieve the Canterbury earthquake victims by sending all available loos north.

The 7.1 magnitude jolt on Saturday damaged electricity supplies, wastewater and sewerage system across the city.

Southern hire companies have come to the rescue by sending all available and needed resources to the quake zone.

Hirepool Invercargill branch assistant manager Craig Burne said its storerooms had been all but cleared of anything that could be used in Christchurch.

Among the equipment sent were about 30 port-a-loos, sure to be a welcome sight for Cantabrians who are facing the stomach-churning proposition of cleaning up the mess left behind by the earthquake.

But it was not just Canterbury's bowels and bladders that would be alleviated with all of the branch's available generators, water and sludge pumps and road barriers sent to Christchurch to aid the revival of the earthquake ravaged city.

About six generators and eight pumps from Invercargill alone and more from other parts of the country had been taken to the city, Mr Burne said.

"Anything that's been requested and that we have, has been sent."

It was unlikely the hiring of all the equipment from branches nationwide would be free of charge but the priority was to get anything that was needed in Christchurch there as soon as possible, he said.

The branch would probably miss out on some business but that was not the worry, at times like this money making was secondary, Mr Burne said.

Likewise Hirequip have spared no effort to send anything it could muster to the disaster zone.

Otago Southland area manager Stu McLean said two fully laden trucks had been sent with spare equipment from branches in Invercargill, Balclutha, Queenstown, Wanaka, Alexandra and Dunedin. The trucks carried generators, tarpaulins and road barriers, all which of which would now be hard to come by south of the Waitaki, he said.

It took a lot of logistical planning and hard work to organise everything, having to co-ordinate so much cargo from different parts of the country. Like Mr Burne, Mr McLean said payment for the equipment use was not even on the radar.

"They are facing one of the worst natural disasters to ever hit them, it (payment) doesn't even come into my mind as being important at this stage."

Everyone was "working their butts off" in Christchurch and in comparison their task was easy, he said.

Both men said customers with pre-booked equipment would have their contracts honoured.

Mr Burne said the movement of the port-a-loos north would not leave Southland Stags fans caught short at the Ranfurly Shield defence against North Harbour on Friday.

- © Fairfax NZ News

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