Dan Jackson: Brave fight to find out the truth

CLOSED ROAD: Sonya Rockhouse and Anna Osborne, who both lost family members in the Pike River disaster, at the blockade on the road to the mine.

Good on them. Good on the families of those poor buggers killed in the Pike River mine disaster.

They've been fighting since 2011 to find out what happened to their 29 sons, brothers and fathers and, seemingly at every turn, they've been knocked back.

That was until another West Coaster handed them a lifeline.

For those of you who don't know, the road used to access the Pike River mine site crosses private land and the land owner, a local farmer, has given the miners' families authority to close it.

This presents a literal roadblock to Solid Energy which has been doing its utmost to seal the mine - and any information it may contain.

Bloody good.

That mine is a crime site and needs to be fully investigated.

If international mining experts are saying it's safe to enter the drift at the start of the mine, then why the hell aren't all avenues being exhausted trying to do that?

Those miners who died were victims of callous indifference by legislators and bosses who cared more about the bottom line - profit - than safety.

Those people should be held to account. We, as a country, need to hold them to account.
The people who looked the other way and bent the rules need to go to jail ... for all of our sakes.

Because if they get away with it, then others will try.

Twenty nine people died for goodness sake - how would we, as a country, react if 29 people had been killed in a terrorist act?

And if there is any chance investigators can find the evidence by going into the drift, then there is no way on earth the entrance should be sealed.

So good on the families for fighting the powers-that-be, and good on the road's land owner for supporting them. Shame on the Government for making these good people suffer more.

The Pike River mining disaster is a stain on this country and it seems it is only the victims who are fighting to get the truth.

**Dan Jackson is a Whanganui journalist and part-time scrap metal dealer