The ruptured fuel pipe that runs to Auckland Airport looks set to cause more chaos as fuel shortages start to impede people trying to fill up at the pump.
Already a number of international flights have been diverted or cancelled due to fuel shortages. Private jets are also reported to be avoiding New Zealand.
The cost to our reputation because of this crisis should not be underestimated.
Today, the NZ Herald reported:
Fuel runs out at petrol stations, more flights cancelled
Four Auckland service stations ran out of 95 octane petrol yesterday - and more could run out today - as thousands of air passengers again face a day of cancelled flights.
Z Energy said it would be able to replenish the fuel today and told motorists there was no cause for concern.
So who exactly is to blame for digging up an essential fuel line?
Yesterday, the NZ Herald reported:
New swamp kauri claims over ruptured pipeline - they were 'digging around for a log'
Digging at the site of the critical fuel pipeline was identified as an "exploratory" search for swamp kauri the day before the rupture happened, according to an industry insider with stories of the extraordinary wealth attached to excavating the buried logs.
Northland's Milton Randell was driving past the site of the pipeline rupture near Ruakaka, just south of Whangarei, last Wednesday, saw the earthworks and believed he was seeing the signs of a swamp kauri hunt.
Randell has 40 years experience in digging swamp kauri out of the ground and would be one of the most experienced to have worked in the industry.
His immediate impulse was to think it was a swamp kauri site - the same detail the NZ Herald was provided by a source familiar with the response to the rupture of the nation's only fuel line to Auckland.
Surely a business the Minister of Energy and Resources is involved with isn't to blame? After all, Judith Collins had already denied any knowledge about who caused the leak.
On Monday, Stuff reported:
Paula Bennett and Judith Collins lament Auckland Airport jet fuel crisis
As to how much it would cost the Auckland economy, Collins said she couldn't say but it's a "big imposition" and that could cost millions and millions of dollars.
Collins said she didn't know who the company was who had the digger that would have caused this damage.
She said it could have happened months or even years ago and the insulation of the pipe was affected by the digging, suggesting that the pipe could have corroded.
Nobody has yet said who the company at fault is exactly. In fact some journalists are acting like it’s not their job to find out.
Thankfully there are other means available to gain information.
This is it. The swamp kauri sawmill @ Ruakaka 2km from pipe rupture. Used to be owned by Oravida now with new name but with same key peeps. pic.twitter.com/jbTZS9OAT6— Dean Baigent-Mercer (@OwlThatLaughs) September 18, 2017
Obviously the National led government isn't going to say who's at fault. Therefore the mainstream media need to do their jobs and get to the bottom of who exactly caused this multi million-dollar fuel shortage crisis. Because if they don’t it looks like more favouritism for the National party.
