Business owners inside the cordon of the Mount Maunganui slip operation say they are losing thousands of dollars daily and have had little to no contact with officials about when they can reopen.
They say they are torn between grieving the tragedy of lost lives and feeling the pressure of their businesses in financial dire straits.
Tauranga Mayor Mahé Drysdale said the council was aware how difficult it was for the businesses and hoped the council could communicate more in the coming days.
The top of Mount Maunganui North has been cordoned off at the Commons Ave/Marine Parade, Leinster Ave/Maunganui Rd and Leinster Ave/The Mall intersections since Thursday’s slip on to the Mount Maunganui Beachside Holiday Park.
An operation to recover the remains of six people believed to have perished in the slip continued on Monday after a pause of about 11 hours, due to fears of another slip.
Sidetrack Cafe owner Aimee Hide said she employed 14 staff, some of whom were asking if they needed to look for work elsewhere.
She said there were at least 13 hospitality businesses within the cordon and estimated about 200 workers were affected.
Hide said some kind of relief package for businesses needed to be a serious consideration as insurance only went so far.
She was surprised she had not heard anything from the Tauranga City Council.
“The silence is not very professional to be honest – even if they don’t know, just say so.”
Mount Break owner Raj Khadka said he employed 12 fulltime and part-time staff, including himself, and was losing $6000 a day while closed.
“I tell everyone that the worst issue is the people who lost their lives. This is a big tragedy. However, as a business owner, the [closure] impact is devastating.”
While he understood the road needed to be closed from a health and safety point of view, he felt the cafe and business owners were not being kept informed as well as they should by those managing the recovery effort.
He had not heard anything from the council and he was only keeping up to date by reading media reports.
Khadka took over ownership of Mount Break in September last year, after working for cafes at the Mount for several years.
He said the landslide happened before what was supposed to be the first of two big long weekends – Auckland Anniversary and Waitangi Day.
Already, he estimated his loss to be $30,000 after five days of closure.
Three One One Six owner Alba De La Cerda said she had owned the cafe for six years and was gearing up for a busy summer.
She said she had a phone call from a council representative on Sunday night, only to advise they needed to meet with the police to determine when the road would reopen.
She said cafes in the area had lost all the food inside their fridges and freezers due to power cuts after Thursday’s slip.
De La Cerda said she gave away as much as she could to the rescuers and volunteers that day.
She said it was difficult not having any answers, and anxiety levels were high.
“Everyone depends on me – my six staff and my family. But I understand this is a difficult situation and it is really sad and it’s so hard to balance everything.“
Tauranga MP Sam Uffindell said he had highlighted the business owners’ concerns with Emergency Management and Recovery Minister Mark Mitchell, who was to present a paper to Cabinet tomorrow, requesting help for those impacted.
Uffindell said he was not aware of the details of the paper and what it could mean, but said it would “address the number of issues that have arisen”.
“I am aware and I have had businesses in the cordon reach out to me. I wanted to make sure the minister was aware of it and of course, he was, as he’s been on site.”
Drysdale said the council knew how tough it was on some of the businesses that had been disrupted by the cordons, and thanked them for their patience.
He said the police were managing the current operation and cordon.
“We are working closely with police to try and reduce the size without disrupting the current operation.
“We hope to have an announcement around this in the coming days and will work directly with businesses to communicate this and discuss timeframes and future expected work.”
Bay of Plenty District Commander Superintendent Tim Anderson said the council had held discussions with business owners today as site leaders consider whether relaxing the cordon is possible.
While unable to say when any cordon changes could happen, Anderson said one consideration had been whether businesses could open to foot traffic but the cordon remaining closed to non-essential vehicles.
He hoped decisions related to the cordon could be made in the coming days.