Editorial: Water crisis answer is essential

Health Minister, Jonathan Coleman, confirmed a government-initiated independent inquiry into the crisis.

There is a rising tide of dissatisfaction over the way the gastro crisis has been dealt with.

Residents of Havelock North and Hastings are fed up that the contamination of water and the devastating effect it has had was allowed to happen. And as the crisis drags on, most people we speak to are over it.

The straw that broke the camel's back for many was news that a water tanker sent to Havelock North High School for residents in the area to get clean water had been found to have an E. coli indicator in it. What made it worse was that this water had come from Hastings. Let's hope it turns out to be a false reading, but we shall see.

Credit to the Hastings District Council for moving quickly to get the word out and also to chlorinate the Hastings water supply, but people cannot take much more of this.

Hopefully, we will have some information today about what actually caused the contamination in the Havelock North water supply. Tests being done will be able to determine where the campylobacter has come from.

The Health Minister, Jonathan Coleman, has also confirmed a government-initiated independent inquiry into the crisis. Details are still to be released, but I believe it will be quite broad.

It is not a moment too soon. There are many facts, including who knew what when, that need to be established.

There has been much finger-pointing in this whole saga and some local politicians have used it for their own advantage. The number of people fronting up each day has been small, but there has been much noise from many of our elected representatives. Let's hope they realise soon that they need to be part of the solution.

But for now, the most important thing is that we get to the bottom of this so that we can ensure that it never happens again.