Company finds its property “lost in quake” up for sale.
A demolition company levelling a central Christchurch building threw out valuable records and documents despite salvaging the cabinets and cupboards in which they were stored.
On September 30, the 23 tenants, who had hoped to retrieve records from the building, were told none of their property could be salvaged because the building was unsafe.
The same day, staff of one of the tenants, the Christchurch Small Business Enterprise Centre, were shopping at the Salvage Warehouse in Heathcote, and found their paintings, filing cabinets, cupboards, interview room tables, a dishwasher and two computers for sale. They also saw their new water heater and the kitchen sink. Another tenant, who cannot be named, recovered a laptop from the warehouse.
CSBEC manager Lindsay Jeffs said he was flabbergasted by his staff’s discovery, as they had been told nothing belonging to the tenants could be salvaged. “This came as a bit of surprise to say the least,” Jeffs said. “It was apparently so dangerous for workers they could get nothing out but the items recovered were in some cases unbolted, cut out and would have had to be taken down the stairs.”
Jeffs said he was not really concerned about tables and cabinets but was angry that salvage workers had not considered the value of records and documents to the seven community organisations on the two floors.
The items recovered by his staff from the warehouse showed no sign of water damage. Staff were offered a discount because a warehouse staff member accepted it was “their property”.
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