Water Minister admits burst mains cause suffering, uses Premier’s own words
HE was told to show empathy and besieged Water Minister Ian Hunter has done just that. But it was the Premier’s sentiments — rather than his own — that he seemed to convey.
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HE was told to show empathy and besieged Water Minister Ian Hunter has done just that. But it was the Premier’s sentiments — rather than his own — that he seemed to convey.
The embattled Minister has copped criticism all year for failing to meet with South Australian’s whose homes and businesses had been damaged by burst water mains.
Within the dry confines of State Parliament, Mr Hunter on Monday conceded “bursts can cause real suffering”.
“There has been an increased focus in recent months on burst water mains,” he said.
“While burst water mains will remain a fact of life — especially considering that we have over 27,000 kilometres of water reticulation mains, coupled with Adelaide’s highly reactive clay soils — it certainly does not mean that SA Water is not proactive about addressing this.
“We understand that the bursts can cause real suffering and inconvenience to people.
“It is an imperative that SA Water responds quickly and effectively to ensure that people affected can get their lives back to normal as quickly as possible.”
His comments appeared to echo those of Premier Jay Weatherill when he said in State Parliament in May that he had told Mr Hunter that he must communicate better.
“These burst water mains cause real suffering,” Mr Weatherill said in response to Opposition questioning.
“The truth is, in terms of our burst water mains, that they will be a fact of life; they will occur from time to time.
“We need to respond to them quickly and we need to ensure that any of the loss associated with them is quickly remedied so that people affected can get their lives back to normal.”
At an estimates hearing on Monday, Mr Hunter explained that SA Water had established a “community support team” to improve the response for people affected by bursts.
“It also provides information about when customers will be reconnected and assists customers in co-ordinating clean-up crews and reimbursement for out-of-pocket expenses,” he said.
“Feedback from customers about the level of support received by this team has been positive.”
He also told members that SA Water was looking into technologies that could predict potential bursts before they happened, and was investigating the lowering of water pressure across the network.
Mr Hunter attended one incident in March where he said he could “completely sympathise with people who’ve gone through this horrible experience” and that he wanted to change SA Water’s policy to offer people accommodation and support.
There were four burst water mains reported to SA Water in the Adelaide metropolitan area on Monday.
So far this year there were 1343 water main failures in the Adelaide metropolitan area, two more that at the same time last year.
Liberal MP Tim Whetstone said he had heard more from The Advertiser’s cardboard cut-out of Mr Hunter than from the Minister himself.