LETTER TO ED: An open letter to DSC CEO Rachel Brophy and Mayor Michael Kerr - the Daintree disaster rolls on...

62 DAYS

Last updated:
Daintree residents remain frustrated about the delays in removing the Noah Range landslide. Picture: Submitted

Dear Rachel and Michael,

This an open letter from myself and the wider Daintree Community.

How can a landslide still be here 62 days later after last December's heavy rainfall? Let’s compare our situation with another massive disaster.

Kaikoura New Zealand had a massive earthquake on November 14, 2016 which included hundreds of landslides.

The Kaikoura water supply was on ‘in a fragile state’ five days later, on November 19, 2016.

On November 30 that year, (16 days later) the Inland Kaikōura Road, redesignated "Kaikōura Emergency Access Road", was reopened to civilian drivers holding a permit and for restricted times of the day.

Twenty-five crews had worked to clear 50 landslips on that highway alone.  It reopened unrestricted to all traffic on December 19 2016 (35 days later)’. ‘State Highway 1 south of Kaikōura reopened two days later on December 21 2016, albeit only during daylight (37 days later).

My point is, clearly the approach here has been different. But many factors are the same; large complicated landslides were common after the 2016 NZ earthquake.

We have one of those. NZ would have deployed Geotechs. We did too. No doubt NZ had companies capable of moving the slide, as do we. So why are we scratching around like chooks at the base of the slide 62 days later, when NZ had opened a road and cleared 50 landslips in 16 days? Even their coast road, complicated by tunnels, was open 37 days later.

Ms Brophy and Mr Kerr, surely you can see that what has been done up to now is deeply flawed? Why were the solutions determined by interim CEO Scott Mason deep sixed? Why has the seven metre deep and very heavy material not been cleared off our road? Why are fully laden fuel trucks climbing over the slide? And importantly, why have we not built a cutting to the top of the slide and started working down from the top? Hopefully the meeting with engineers you have promised for this week will reveal all Mayor Kerr?

I know working in landslides is risky. Especially if you work from below. But all work has risk. Are we really going to be here a hundred days later because it is too risky? If that is the case lets build a new road west of this one. And call this ‘the landslide that can’t be moved’.

The late Billy Kettles, the old Council dozer driver, working in tandem with a bigger machine would have had this thing gone weeks ago. But we are still phaffing about 62 days later!

And while this landslide goes for the world record for not being moved, there is zero information on erecting the new Noah Bridge, and no tenders let to repair Alexandra Range before the tourist season.

Your inaction is making us all very nervous. Please act fast and with certainty, or the Port Douglas Daintree and Cairns brand will suffer severe damage. The Daintree brand will be smashed into little pieces. Both of you signed up for a big job. Please show us how it’s done.

Regards,

Lawrence Mason and the wider Daintree community