Today’s Dom Post had published a story saying that Reverse Bungy NZ in central Wellington has been closed due to safety concerns.
Apparently the capital city’s tourist attraction has something of a “chequered safety history” over the last 14 months.
The Dom Post states that the Department of Labour had been investigating the mechanical failure of a hydraulic hose in March that resulted in a release mechanism fault that left three people stuck in the bungy’s carriage. Before that, in Oct, one of the bungy’s two elastic cords snapped seconds before moments before three people were supposed to be rocketed into the air.
Furthermore, the amusement is alleged to have been operating without a licence since 25 June 2010 until it was shut down in August by the city council, why it was permitted to operate for so long isn’t made clear in the report.
Perish the thought that someone may’ve been killed or seriously injured in that time and whilst a DoL investigation was underway. Surely DoL investigators should have taken proactive measures to ensure public safety before it was closed by the city council?
Public reaction to the closure was mutted, only attracting three comments on the Post’s website, one left by ‘Nic’ said
I believe all tourism ventures need to be checked before the RWC to make sure they are up to standard etc, with the millions coming through for the tournament. Apart from people’s lifes, just imagine if something were to happen how much international press we would see and what that would do to our reputation.
How terrible if New Zealand’s international reputation were damaged!
But why should the RWC be making any difference to safety standards, surely NZ has a duty to its own residents and the thousands of tourists that visit the country each year to keep them safe every day, not just when the world is likely to be watching?
For more about safety concerns and New Zealand’s adventure tourism industry please read posts tagged Adventure Tourism.
You may also find interesting: Our NZ Adventure Tourism Facts and Stats page
Background story
E2NZ.org 