Friday
May 8, 2015 (Vol. 40 No. 37)
V O I C E
O F
W H I T E
R O C K
A N D
S O U T H
Brave battle: A South Surrey husband and father is sharing his journey fighting esophageal cancer, in the hopes it might inspire others to get tested for the disease. i see page 11
S U R R E Y
w w w. p e a c e a r c h n e w s . c o m
Months of roadwork lengthened on 24 Avenue and 152 Street
Watermain leak extends traffic clog Alex Browne Staff Reporter
There’s bad news for drivers and business owners who have been enduring months of disruptions along 24 Avenue between 152 and 148 Streets during the installation of a replacement watermain. Work on the project, which also stretches along 152 Street between 20 and 24 Avenues, will likely continue for another two to four
weeks – following the discovery that the newly installed infrastructure was leaking – according to Scott Neuman, manager of construction for Surrey’s engineering department. “We suspect that it is a problem with the pipe material, as opposed to a workmanship or installation error,” he said, adding that the contractor, Hyland Excavating, has already located the leaks and completed multiple repairs to the pipe.
The original leaking pipe material has been sent for testing “to confirm whether or not it was manufactured as per specifications,” Neuman said. The good news, from a city perspective, is that the contractor is bearing the costs of repairs, and staff are working with Hyland to complete trench paving to a more permanent condition and secure a “lengthy” warranty, Neuman said.
At the same time, Neuman confirmed the current work means motorists haven’t seen the last of construction signs, equipment and flag people – which have stretched as far east along the busy thoroughfare as King George Boulevard. And, there’s another factor that could lead to frustration for drivers in the area, he acknowledged. i see page 4
Councillors respond
‘Unhappy city hall’ disputed Melissa Smalley Staff Reporter
Tracy Holmes photo
Kiah Ellis-Durity (left) and sister Devon at home in South Surrey, one week after Kiah returned from Nepal, where she survived a deadly earthquake.
Earthquake survivor reflects on death toll in Nepal
‘Why some people and not others?’ Tracy Holmes Staff Reporter
One week after returning from earthquakedevastated Nepal, Kiah Ellis-Durity can’t help but wonder why – why it happened where it did and when it did, and how it is that she is among the survivors. “Going on this trip and realizing death is kind of random and you just kind of miss it or you don’t miss it,” she said Wednesday, reflecting on the experience from her perch in an Adirondack chair in her family’s South Surrey backyard.
“It could’ve been me. A lot of the families didn’t get out. Why some people and not some people?” Ellis-Durity, 18, was hours away from flying out of Katmandu when the 7.8-magnitude earthquake struck around noon on April 25. She had been in the country as a volunteer for about five weeks, teaching English and science to monks and nuns. In the weeks since, the death toll has surpassed 7,500. When the quake hit, the teen was walking along a street. She knew right away what was
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happening; the gravity of just how bad it was came a bit later. She saw blood on the street, cracked roads, shattered windows and a taxi that had been crushed by a fallen utility pole. “I saw all these buildings that had fallen, with the police trying to pick up pieces of brick,” Ellis-Durity said. On an hour-long walk back to one of the monasteries she had stayed at, locals “told me a family of eight had died in the house I just passed.” i see page 4
Two White Rock councillors are taking issue with claims made by a third that city hall is a “hostile” environment. Couns. Grant Meyer and Lynne Sinclair responded with incredulity this week to comments made by Coun. Helen Fathers in recent Grant Meyer Peace Arch News articles, describing city hall as an “unpleasant” environment to work in and stating that city employees were “dreadfully unhappy.” “I’m quite Lynne Sinclair surprised to read that there’s hostility, and I think one has to question who’s creating hostility,” Sinclair told PAN Tuesday. “The things I’m reading about, without ever having had a phone call from Coun. Fathers, are surprising to say the least. i see page 4
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