We Need To Get Paid; We Need The Bodies Too

Pike River went out on a financial limb to develop this coal mine, and then the limb got blown out from under them:

A group of former Pike River contractors say they are seeking to liquidate the company because it is likely to get them repaid more quickly and will offer a better chance of recovering the bodies of those who died in the mine disaster.

The 43 contractors say they are owed almost $5 million by Pike River, which went into receivership a month after a series of explosions killed 29 men in the West Coast mine last November.

The group, who are unsecured creditors, say because the receivers' only obligation is to the secured creditor which appointed them, NZ Oil & Gas, liquidation is likely to be their only chance of being repaid what they are owed.

The receivers also have no obligation to recover the bodies of the dead miners.

The group's chairman, Peter Haddock, said last night it had "reached the point of no return, with little action by the receiver to attempt to recover the bodies for the families and, last week, the receiver's indication that the company would not be fully participating in the royal commission".

...Many, he says, are in dire straits - partly because Pike River hasn't paid them - and one contractor was forced into receivership last week.

...He also notes one of the potential bidders, Solid Energy, has said it will recover the bodies if possible and will pay Pike River's unsecured creditors.

..."Our group lost 13 of our own employees on November 19 last year and also the community wants to see some action as well.

"It is distasteful the way things have dragged on, and liquidation may mean the process speeds up.