Airport strike inquiry could cost £250,000
Thursday 20th August 2009, 2:30PM BST.
UP TO £250,000 has been earmarked by the States for the airport firefighter dispute investigation – more than twice the sum deputies initially expected.
Members supported a requete in July from Deputy Mary Lowe for a tribunal of inquiry into the events leading up to the industrial action in May that closed the airport.
Deputies backed the tribunal after being told it would cost up to an estimated £100,000.
The other option on the table was a Scrutiny-led review that would have cost £15,000 and been finished by September.
Committee chairman Barry Brehaut (pictured) said he was staggered that £250,000 has now been set aside for the review.
‘It was certainly not the intention of the House to spend a quarter of a million pounds,’ he said.
‘I’m wondering now what it takes to re-examine this process. The question is, where is the value for money? A number of deputies I have spoken to are of the same mind as me.’
Deputy Brehaut asked what initiatives would be put on hold to cover the review’s costs.
He did not believe the States would have backed it if members knew the latest estimate of its cost.
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I reckon the Guernsey Boyz should take over running of the Airport fireservice.
Sure a few planes might go missing off the runway if they look a bit scruffy or they haven’t moved for a few hours but some thing has to be done about those spoilt brats masquerading as professional fire fighters. They are costing us all a fortune!
They might be a bit ruff around the edges, their helmets might not be quite as shiny and I doubt they’ll anywhere near as good at pool but at least installing our resident vigilante wrecking crew up there would stop good money being thrown after bad. It might also spur on the airlines to keep to the timetable if a couple of them stood around on the apron, crowbars in hand, waiting to smash-up and haul away any planes that are more than 1/2 an hour late.
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Is it not a little bit crazy to be prepared to pay more for an enquiry into something that the actual cost borne by the taxpayers originally?
What if the enquiry finds that the PSRC were wrong – they cannot sack them as they have already resigned!
If they believe that the firemen were wrong to refuse to work extra shifts (which is what closed the airport) what will they do? They cannot force people to work overtime!
It is totally unbelievable – the winners, as always, will be the lawyers.
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Why do something for £15,000 when you can do it for £250,000. Well done Mary.
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It’s about time you all read the reports properly. Mary Lowe failed to understand that airport management offered a package of £200,000 to settle which was accepted by the airport workers. But Mary Lowe would rather spend £250,000 paying tribunal staff “some from outside the island, if necessary”. It’s time that Mary Lowe resigned, she has no brains whatsoever, or is that a prime qualification for being a States Deputy.
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again they waste money on these things
what wrong with the states dont they have better things to do
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We could always get rid of the Scrutiny Committee, that’s doing nothing, and use the money we save to pay for this review and any other reviews that need to be done.
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Is it April 1st?
There must be some truth in the saying ‘A fool and his money are easily parted’
Can anyone guess who the fools are??
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This is all about Mary Lowe wanting to get her own back on Trott after she was thrown off the Policy Council over Fallagate
I wonder how one of her young constituents will feel knowing that she is happy to blow the entire next fifty years of his/her income tax payments on her vanity
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It wouldn’t be so bad if the tribunal was going to answer the relevant question. Why was there teh abject failure to negotiate in the preceeding months/year+
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Use the £250.000 to employ more firemen, should be no under staffed shifts then.Problem solved. Also the money stays on island.
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Perhaps Diggard can save the day again with his two pence
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