The government's earthquake helpline has received nearly 9000 calls and hundreds more are coming in every day, Social Development Minister Paula Bennett says.The 0800 helpline is run by Work and Income and Ms Bennett said staff were also tracking down tho
The government's earthquake helpline has received nearly 9000 calls and hundreds more are coming in every day, Social Development Minister Paula Bennett says.
The 0800 helpline is run by Work and Income and Ms Bennett said staff were also tracking down thousands of elderly people in Canterbury to make sure they were safe.
More than 200 home visits had been made to check up on those who couldn't be contacted by phone.
Ms Bennett was speaking in Parliament yesterday when ministers updated MPs on the earthquake relief effort.
Finance Minister Bill English said the first applications for emergency wage subsidies from Canterbury businesses had already been approved.
The government announced on Tuesday it had set aside $15 million for the $350-a-week subsidies which can be paid to earthquake-affected businesses so they can continue to pay their employees.
Mr English said that in the day-and-a-half since the announcement was made there had been about 340 calls from employers and 36 formal applications.
He told Parliament Treasury's $4 billion estimate of the cost of earthquake damage was "still a very early estimate" and a better idea of the overall cost would be gained when more information was available.
"So far the Earthquake Commission has received 36,000 claims and expects this to rise to around 100,000 claims in coming weeks," he said.
Asked about the cost to the economy, he said the Treasury expected there would be lower GDP growth over the next two or three months but a net benefit over the following 12 months as money from insurance companies and the Earthquake Commission flowed into Canterbury's economy.
