Icky city to be cleaned

KEITH LYNCH

Last updated 14:45 04/04/2011

 

A Civil Defence team is to be tasked with removing putrid food in the stench-hit Christchurch city centre.

A strong, unleasant odour is evident in part of the quake-hit CBD and while there is no significant health risk, a civil defence spokesman today said a process would be put in place to clean up the rotting food and organic material.

There was also a fear the organic material could attract rats, he said.

Lieutenant Michael Clulow of the Royal New Zealand Engineers is among a team working in the city centre to board up exposed shop fronts.

He said army personnel had experienced bad smells, ''generally in the the cafes and the food areas''.

''Oxford Tce obviously [smelled bad] because they had a lot of refigerated or frozen food, and it's now been six weeks without power,'' he said.

''It is a hazardous enviroment. There are a number of issues we have working in here.''