Simply the worst ever…
Thursday 4th March 2010, 2:26PM GMT.
OVER the last couple of days, we have highlighted some of the unsatisfactory aspects of the States’ last minute and single vote decision to abandon the years of work that led up to the earlier acceptance of mass burn incineration and in-principle adoption of the Suez solution.
Islanders have no idea how much that volte face will cost them or the consequences of abandoning a strategy that members previously accepted was based on the best possible evidence and available technology.
And these concerns exist in their own right, irrespective of whether someone is anti-incinerator or was for the Public Services Department package of measures.
Equally, it is clear that when deputies left the Assembly late on Friday they had little idea what was going to replace the energy-from-waste plan. Indeed, they still don’t.
Members might think they do – some vague ‘strategy’ of waste minimisation – but the only firm resolution is as a result of the amended requete, which dumps Suez and replaces it with… nothing, not even a mention of minimisation.
PSD has to come back with a discussion paper which will then lead to formal proposals and to a proper strategy. What that will be, what it will cost – kerbside recycling, anyone? – what level of coercion, what level of inconvenience for households and businesses and how many extra bureaucrats to check bins for illegal rubbish is completely unknown.
Will that level of red tape and one household collection a month be more or less acceptable than a Suez plant?
Deputies have as clear an understanding about that as they do on the actual cost of dropping the incinerator.
A headline figure of £3.2m. has been given in the Billet d’Etat plus ‘significant’ other costs. Those were discussed in the secret session of the Assembly and must have been quantified. So members have taken a view behind closed doors on what islanders are prepared to pay not to have an incinerator.
And was that £5m., £10m., £15m. or £30m.? What they received was a ‘…it probably won’t be more than £Xm…’ but no one really knows, least of all the taxpayer.
So an unknown bill to break the contract and an unknown cost and community burden to put something else in place.
This is truly the worst piece of decision-making ever achieved by the States of Guernsey.
Campaigns
Voice For Victims
Voice for Victims is a campaign aimed at promoting the rights of those affected by child sexual abuse.
This is Guernsey
Guernsey Press
The editor writes “So an unknown bill to break the contract and an unknown cost and community burden to put something else in place”.
Hang on, it was only a few weeks ago that Bernard Floquet said on Radio Guernsey that no contract had been signed with Suez.
If a contract has been signed since that date when it was known that the matter was coming up before the States, that would be the ultimate of maladministration.
If the taxpayer’s pocket is to be picked for unknown costs surely good government would suggest they were made aware of this and who created this liability and why.
Report abuse
Worst decision ever? Worst States ever! One truly has to fear for the future of this island if the current batch of incompetents are elected again.
Report abuse
I wonder if PSD and its minister are regretting closing down the Peoples Panel on Waste, and ignoring its recommendations.
The Peoples Panel was created by PSD in 2008 as a forum to consult with the public with regards to Guernsey’s waste problem.
I quote former Deputy Bell:
‘The purpose of the Panel will be to hear the views of people, to examine proposals brought forward either by the Department or third parties or the Panel itself,’ he said. ‘A long-term solution to waste disposal is one of the main issues that the island now faces. The Department believes it is important that the public have the opportunity to make their views known on this matter before far reaching decisions are made.’
http://gov.gg/ccm/public-services/Press-Releases/2008/peoples-panel-will-ensure-openness-on-waste-issues.en;jsessionid=663EA18AC691A99F7EDCA860599B9251
On it were a selection of members from a wide cross section of Guernsey, some were highly qualified in the fields of waste and planning, and some were from the environmental lobby.
When the panel published a paper in June 2008 with their recommendations the Minister quickly disbanded the panel and PSD made attempts to discredit their findings. Possibly they expected the panel to rubber stamp the PSD mass burn proposal but they didn’t.
I quote the Guernsey Press of October 4th, 2008
“Public Services minister Bernard Flouquet, who revealed at Thursday’s IoD debate that £10m. of taxpayers’ money had been spent over the years on trying to find a waste solution, said: ‘Public Services acted in accordance with the resolution of the States from January 2007, which instructed it to seek tenders from companies able to offer a range of waste management technologies.
‘It was not the Public Services Department’s remit, nor the people’s panel’s mandate, to revisit those previous decisions.’”
In the same article former deputy John Langlois said
“Unfortunately, it all fell apart after the general election when a new PSD minister was appointed. I got the impression that deputies, after knocking on doors around the parishes before the election, were not interested in listening to the people for another four years once they were elected.”
The panel recommendations were
1.The procurement of a 20,000 tonne incinerator extending the life of Mont Cuet until 2031
2.and/or the export of some waste on an interim basis until alternative treatment solutions could be implemented, extending the life of Mont Cuet notionally until 2081
3.A dry materials recovery unit may be desirable
It seems to me their recommendations would have been a very good compromise, and if taken on board by PSD, would have been a very good example of public consultation. Instead we have lurched from one extreme (mass burn most of the waste) to another extreme (mass burn nothing).
My prediction: A Mass burner from France will tender for our waste and all the cross border issues raised by PSD will disappear into the ether!!
Report abuse