Dam Collapse a Massive Boondoggle

(Aired on July 16, 2010)

We all forget things. It's not hard with the busy life we lead for things to slip through the cracks. I've done it many times, despite my best efforts, and fortunately, it's never come back to bite me seriously. We regroup and try to do a better job next time.

But it's hard to believe that something like that which happened in Oliver could have slipped through the cracks for 40 years, with, I'm sure, many different people responsible, and several different governments in place. A report released yesterday outlines a continuing series of gaffes that ultimately led to a mudslide June 13 that wiped out several homes and a large tract of farm and orchard land. The dam is privately owned, and as far back as the 1960s, the government ordered the owner to make repairs and improve the dam. Those repairs, apparently, we never done. And worse, there was never any followup to ensure the repairs were completely.

That's hard to believe. No one, in all those years, ever checked to see if the guy completed the work. And then there's the case of a phone call from a hiker, who reported the lake behind the dam was overflowing after recent rains. Police called the Ministry, but left a message on an answering machine that wasn't heard until the day after the slide.

I don't want to be overly critical here, but that just seems like a whole series of incomprehensible screw-ups that led to people possibly losing their homes and the life they have built for themselves. They will never get the compensation they deserve, and they could have lost their lives.

This is a massive boondoggle of the highest proportions. Not only should the dam's owner pay if he's found negligent, but the government needs to have a major ministry reorganization so there's proper followup when repairs are ordered. I guess we should be happy no lives were lost, but try to tell that to the families who now have to start over.