Rach Andrews and Tāmati Taptiklis say mining company Bathurst has started sounding 24-hour alarms and flying drones and helicopters close to the bucket.
A pair suspended 80m high in a coal bucket at a South Island mine claim company owners are using ‘hostile’ tactics to get them out by flying helicopters and drones nearby and blaring ear-piercing 24-hour alarms.
Rach Andrews and Tāmati Taptiklis, of Climate Liberation Aotearoa (CLA), are entering theirfourth week, crammed in a bucket the size of a single bed, above the Buller Plateau, blocking coal from being transported from Bathurst’s Stockton mine.
But the West Coast mining company says the pair are not in a “holiday rental” and accused the CLA of leaving their “foot soldiers to rot for three weeks”.
A Bathurst Resources Ltd spokesperson said they had lost upwards of $560,000, about $24,000 a day, trucking coal from the mine down to its rail loading facility at Ngākawau because of the protest.
Rach Andrews says she feels she has no choice but to stay in the bucket.
The pair said Bathurst was deploying hostile tactics to get them to move, including using birdscarers, a 24-hour alarm, and flying a helicopter and drones close to their bucket.
Videos shared by the Herald show helicopters flying precariously close as the pair film it, as well as evidence of the ear-piercing, screeching alarm blaring over the gorge.
Andrews and Taptiklis had previously claimed they had been subjected to gunshots (which the mine has denied), detonations and shaking of the wire ropes by Bathurst employees.
Tāmati Taptiklis has been up in the bucket for three weeks now - and has no plans to move.
They say security guards are now also stationed underneath the bucket.
Andrews said they have no choice but to remain at their post.
“Our Government is bending our legal system to let companies like Bathurst accelerate the deadly climate crisis, so we feel like we don’t have a choice.
“If we don’t want people to lose their homes and loved ones in climate disasters, we have to take action.”
Andrews and Taptiklis said they live off rainwater, dehydrated meals and use solar power to charge their devices.
Only a tarpaulin has shielded them from high winds and rain, and yet they have remained.
The Bathurst spokesperson said they were concerned for the trespassers’ welfare, but have to ensure they can continue the employment of 400 people.
The 2km cable car, used to transport coal out of New Zealand’s biggest coal mine, has been immobilised since the pair began protesting 22 days ago.
When asked about the tactics used to try to get Andrews and Taptiklis to leave, the spokesperson said they were justified.
“This is not a holiday rental they booked, and now the neighbours have gotten noisy.
“This is a coal conveyance system that is not designed to transport or house people. It has inherent risks that are not understood by these people or the organisers of this media stunt.”
They claimed CLA have abandoned “soldiers for the cause” in a very risky position.
