Civil Defence says it has exhausted New Zealand's supply of portaloos and nearly exhausted the supply of chemical toilets too, as it strives to meet the requirements of Christchurch residents.
The lack of such toilets has been the main concern of residents attending community meetings in quake-ravaged Christchurch.
At meetings held in parks in north and south New Brighton on Wednesday, residents spoke of the frustrations of numerous homes sharing a small number of portaloos.
Others said they still had not seen any and were reliant on longdrops in their gardens.
Christchurch City Council and Civil Defence officials assured people everything is being done to remedy the situation, with portaloos arriving any day from the United States and chemical toilets being manufactured in China.
John Lovell of Civil Defence told one meeting: "We've exhausted New Zealand's supply of portaloos. We've basically nearly exhausted New Zealand's supply of chemical toilets.
"We can't get any more, so we've got 20,000 currently being made in China, and they will take a wee while to get here over the next few weeks."
