By Jenny Suo
The spokesman for some of the pike river mine victims, says the Prime Minister has stopped listening to them.
Bernie Monk met with John Key to discuss the families' own plan to recover the 29 bodies, which have been trapped underground for almost two years now.
But despite Solid Energy agreeing to help if the plan received official approval, Mr Monk says the Prime Minister wasn't interested.
“We want to stage our own rescue and we've got our own people in the West Coast to do it,” Mr Monk says. “John just shows us no authority and he just doesn’t want to listen to us.”
Mr Key met with Mr Monk today and Mr Monk says experts think it's possible to enter the mine through the drift, while Mr Key says he's heard otherwise.
“What I said is ‘look I’ll go away and have some discussion about what you said to me’, but I cant make commitments on the fly,” Mr Key says. “But I was very honest with him - every expert I’ve ever had in my office has always said to me the probability of getting into the mine is very low because it is extremely dangerous.”
Solid Energy announced today that they're looking to develop a plan for tunnel exploration for approval by the middle of next year.
But it would give Mr Monk access to the site if his plan was reviewed and deemed safe by the high hazards unit.
“Don Elder told me yesterday over the phone that if we can get the force together, they would give us all the equipment we need to do a recovery of the drift.”
Mr Key says he understands Mr Monk's frustration but he won’t be putting lives at risk to enter the mine
Mr Monk is now hoping for another meeting with the Prime Minister where experts from both sides are present. In the mean time he'll keep working on his recovery plan.
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