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John Key is updated on the Canterbury earthquake in Christchurch's CBD - Source: ONE News -
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Prime Minister John Key has promised support services will remain in place for people affected by the Christchurch earthquake for as long as people require them.
"We shouldn't underestimate the impact this will have on people," he said on TV ONE's Close Up today.
"Those services will be there for as long as they're needed. If you do need support then the welfare centres have people positioned in them, call our helplines, and we are making sure that we're contracting more services that we know that will be required."
Key also said today the government will give $5 million to the Mayoral Relief Fund.
Cabinet met today and discussed the aftermath of the devastating quake and the Prime Minister said $5m was the "starting point".
The mayoral fund is for those in hardship not covered by other schemes such as the Earthquake Commission (EQC).
More than $90m was available from a roading fund and that would be enough to get things started, Key said.
The EQC had received more than 15,000 claims from homeowners so far.
Key said about 166 state houses in Christchurch were seriously damaged and 100-200 had roofing damage.
Around 250 people still remained in welfare centres around Christchurch today.
The government had a "number of pockets" it could draw on to fund various repair and reconstruction work, Key said.
There will be an inquiry into the reaction to the earthquake, which was standard after such an event, but things had gone well, he said.
"I do think it was a an extremely slick operation, it worked very well."
Senior Cabinet Minister Gerry Brownlee has been appointed Minister for Economic Recovery and will be based in Christchurch.
Brownlee said the workers in Christchurch had done a great job over the weekend keeping services going.
"One of the pleasing things about this (is) that no one has died as a result of this earthquake."
The army had helped provide accommodation and were on standby for further assistance.
Local government elections in Christchurch would go ahead as scheduled and Key would take his planned trip to Europe on Friday.
Key said he would not go to Europe if he thought it would be detrimental to Christchurch.
"I have responsibility in other areas, other than just this, but I'm confident that we're putting in place processes."
It would take months for repairs to be carried out, he said.
Christchurch MPs have been given leave from Parliament to be in Christchurch.
