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| Terri Benson new CEO of Seqwater - "put up or shut up". |
The following report appeared in The Brisbane Times Monday 21 January 2013 regarding the extraordinary - but not unexpected - finding by the world class engineers for Maurice Blackburn and IMF (Australia) that Wivenhoe Dam was mismanaged during the floods of January 2011:
Seqwater hit back with a statement from Seqwater CEO Terri Benson who said the organisation was "acutely" aware of the impacts of the floods.
He emphasised dam operators were effectively dealing with two 1974 floods within 30 hours of each other.
"Seqwater remains confident that Wivenhoe Dam was managed and performed as it was designed," he said.
"Our approach has been vindicated by a range of independent experts including one of the world’s leading dam authorities, the United States Bureau of Reclamation and United States Army Corps of Engineers."
Apart from the fact that Terri Benson is a woman, one can safely assume this report is otherwise accurate.
It would be better for Terri Benson to step softly on this issue rather than come out swinging like an Olympic boxer.
If she is relying on Seqwater's media staff to prepare this claptrap, she should sack the lot of them and start again.
Even after Maurice Blackburn and IMF (Australia) received a report from the most-eminent engineers and hydrologists in the world, Terri Benson continues to deny what most would regard as the undeniable.
As for her claim that Seqwater has been vindicated by the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers, nothing could be further from the truth.
She should read the news reports following the Army Corps Report last year which clearly showed their exceptionally narrow terms of reference precluded them from examining the core issues pursued by IMF (Australia). If they had been able to report without any fetters, they would almost certainly have reported on the monumental failure of Seqwater and its fat-cat bosses to prevent the preventable flood.
Those same fat cats received bonuses after the 2011 flood in a shocking display of "Two to the Valley" to the public of Queensland by Seqwater.
Given that this whole matter is on the threshold of entering the legal arena in the Queensland Supreme Court, Terri Benson would be well advised to put up or shut up and allow the lawyers to handle the matter.
If she cannot zip her lip, Terri Benson should head back to New South Wales from whence she came, after the purge of Seqwater by the Newman Government last month.
With the departure of Peter Borrows as the CEO of Seqwater, it is understood the water body has a new motto:
"Nothing changes - just the people!"
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| Peter Borrows - ex CEO Seqwater |
"Nothing changes - just the people!"
21.1.13
