Key visits hard-hit eastern suburbs

Liquefaction has caused significant damage in Bexley. Photo / Brett Phibbs

Prime Minister John Key visited Christchurch's hard-hit eastern suburbs today to try and reassure residents they have not been forgotten.

In the wake of criticism that the eastern suburbs were being neglected by authorities in the wake of last week's deadly earthquake, Mr Key, with Christchurch Mayor Bob Parker, surveyed damage to power cables and the power substation and spoke to residents in the suburb of Bexley, where liquefaction has caused significant damage.

Speaking at the substation this afternoon, Mr Key said: "You can see the enormity of the services here. It's not just a simple matter of plugging back in the power - you've got breakages to cables all over the show. You've got houses literally under sand.

"Civil Defence has given me an assurance that they have done everything they can. The people I've met this morning are going through tremendous hardship so our sympathy has to go them."

He acknowledged that residents in the city's eastern suburbs may have felt they were missing out.

But saving 70 lives from the wreckage of the city centre had been the most important task for Civil Defence and emergency services, he said.

"Obviously what has dominated things is the Urban Search and Rescue and we shouldn't lose sight of the fact that a couple of hundred people have lost their lives."

Mr Key responded to ongoing criticism about the placement of portaloos in the suburbs, saying Civil Defence had assured him they had placed them "as best as they saw fit".

More toilets would arrive soon to areas in need, he said.

"I think pretty much every portaloo in Australasia is on its way."

"You can appreciate what they are going through - basic things like toilets, water and power are necessities of life. At the end of the day, we can appreciate their issues. It is a matter of resources."

Gerard Hayman of Portaloos said he had just delivered two more portaloos to Aranui School, where there was now four. Eight hundred portaloos have been delivered since the quake, twice as many as in the same period after the September 4 quake.

"We just can't get them out fast enough," he said.

Welfare centres had been set up to get people in badly damaged areas through the first days after last week's earthquake, Mr Key said.

"This is a disaster that has wreaked havoc on the city. No-one underestimated any of that, but there have been welfare centres set up to accommodate anyone that needs that support. We are not leaving anyone isolated on their own. There is plenty of support for them.

Mr Key said residents he had spoken to had been supportive and grateful for the help they had received.

"People that have come up to us, I don't know any of them, but they have all been supportive and actually thankful for what is going on. The reality is the most critical thing we can do is restore power and sewerage."

Mr Key today said an inquiry into the earthquake and details of a national day of remembrance would be discussed at the weekly cabinet meeting on Monday.

He also said his family had suffered in the Christchurch earthquake.

His sister's house was severely damaged and is likely to be demolished, while two of her friends died in the aftermath of the quake, he said.

Seven more victims named

Police have officially released the names of seven more people who died in the February 22 Christchurch earthquake.

Search and rescue crews found two more bodies overnight, lifting the death toll to 163. Police expect the toll to reach 220.

Police Superintendent Sam Hoyle told media that 241 disaster victim identification staff from all over the world were working incredibly long days to identify the deceased.

Mr Hoyle said staff were very conscious of the importance of their task.

"We absolutely are aware that we cannot make it better for these families - but we can make it worse," he said.

Mr Hoyle released the names of seven more victims. They were Joan Dorothy Weild, 76 and her husband Graham Weild, Matthew Stuart McEachen, 25, Neil Glyn Stocker, 58, Haruthaya Luangsurapeesakul, 32 of Thailand, Scott William Emerson Lucy, 38 and Maysoon Mahdi Abbas, 61.

Civil Defence national controller John Hamilton told media that 1000 heritage buildings had been assessed, with 50 per cent receiving red stickers.

Red stickers mean the buildings have been badly damaged and are unsafe for entry.

A total 56,000 properties have received building assessments in the wake of last week's Christchurch earthquake.

Mr Hamilton said of the 3000 buildings assessed in the city centre, 45 per cent had received red stickers.

Another 1350 homes, many in the city's eastern suburbs, had been assessed as having severe damage.

Christchurch Mayor Bob Parker said the Earthquake Commission had received 31,000 claims for property damage suffered in the earthquake.

They were in addition to the 181,107 damage claims from the original 7.1 earthquake in September that had been logged by February 17.

Sections of the cordoned off area of the Christchurch city centre will be opened up this weekend.

Fire Service spokesman Paul Baxter said the south-west corner of the cordon around the centre of Christchurch would be lifted on Sunday afternoon.

Mayor Parker said further extensions to the accessible area would be announced from Monday.

It was vital that businesses could able to get back into the city centre as soon as possible, he said.

"It's absolutely necessary they are able to get up and running again."

Mayor Parker said water had been restored to 75 per cent of Christchurch houses, but he said the city's waste water system was proving difficult to repair and little progress had been made.

He commended those working on the infrastructure damaged in last week's devastating earthquake.

- with NZPA and NZ Herald staff