Lock up those wheelie bins

By Warren Gamble

No manhole cover is being left unturned, no traffic light is safe and no wheelie bin is unmoved as the police count down to Apec.

Queen St strollers yesterday stopped to gawk at members of the police specialist search group painstakingly checking manholes and then sealing them with a small, numbered sticker.

Other search specialists were unscrewing the panels on traffic lights, possibly checking for explosives.

The officers - some toting mirrors, others with explosives detector dogs - will become a familiar sight this week as they check Apec hotels and venues.

Last week the group did find a men's shirt and a pair of pants hidden in a ceiling panel at the Centra Hotel.

The New Zealand Herald understands the shirt had a Canadian insignia on it - Canadian Prime Minister Jean Chretien is staying at the hotel next weekend - and the pants were part of the hotel uniform.

Police refused to comment on those details, saying the clothes could have been bought anywhere and did not pose any security risk.

Among other Apec precautions are the removal of some rubbish bins and the sealing of letterboxes on motorcade routes for Apec dignitaries.

And residents in some inner-city streets should also lock up their wheelie bins - known in official terms as MGBs (mobile garbage bins).

Orange stickers have appeared on the targeted bins warning their owners that the innocent receptacles have been identified as a potential security risk and should not be left out from this Friday to the following Tuesday at 5 pm.

The usual Tuesday pickup has been delayed until Wednesday.

The notice does not say what will happen to the MGBs if they are left out, but presumably they would be rounded up and kept in custody without trial until their danger passes.