WHO would be a member of the Public Services Department at such a testing time?

Quite a few deputies it seems, despite the fact that it will be bringing forward at least three massive, expensive and potentially controversial projects before the next election.

It’s the kind of challenge you feel former deputy Roger Berry – whatever his failings over the New Jetty – would have relished and it will be interesting to see if his successors are up to the mark.

Firstly, we have the airport runway project, which is predicted to cost about £80m. It’s almost certain that many concerned taxpayers will be wearing their search engines out and discovering other, comparable runways which have been reconstructed for half the price. They will be asking why Guernsey always seems to have to pay more for its large capital projects.

Then there is the thorny problem of whether to close the airport on some days to reduce costs. While any opportunity to save the taxpayers’ cash must be considered, it’s impossible not to have sympathy with the implacable opposition of the airlines and the wider business community. Again, they will quote other, similar runways which have been rebuilt without any daytime closure.

The Chamber of Commerce came up with an interesting compromise. It suggested keeping part of the runway open for small planes, such as Trislanders, to ensure limited connectivity via Jersey or Southampton.

Whether it would be deemed safe to use part of a landing strip while work was going on at the end of it I have no idea, but it’s certainly worth considering. It wouldn’t satisfy all of the critics – particularly Flybe – but at least this is a business group which for once is putting forward positive ideas instead of just criticising.

The next big project is the long awaited sewage treatment plant. We are being told this will cost from £30-80m. Even if it comes in at the lower end of that price range there will be many islanders who will think it is too much to pay to cure what exhaustive testing shows to be more of a PR problem than an environmental one.

We certainly have occasional blips in water quality but the indications are that polluted run-off from the land is more to blame than our sewage system.

Of course, the vast majority of us would prefer to see proper sewage treatment than discharge to sea but if the price tag comes in at £50m., we will have to decide if it is more important than new schools or mental health facilities. Even if it is funded through charges rather than taxation, there is still a limit on how much money the States can take from Guernsey residents through whatever mechanism.

Then there is the issue of how to dispose of the sewage cake. It was to be burned in the, now abandoned, solid waste incinerator. Guernsey Water rightly won’t let it be spread on the land. Deputy Bernard Flouquet was bold enough to suggest the sewage plant could include its own incinerator, but is that sensible? We already know that leading local environmental campaigners have suggested micro-incinerators to deal with our residual solid waste. At what point do several smaller incinerators become a worse option than one integrated plant?

Finally, PSD has been charged with drawing up a solid waste disposal strategy, from scratch, with very little landfill space remaining. Once the euphoria has died down it will become clear that this is easily the hardest of its three big challenges.

Of course, any idiot could easily send our waste to Jersey, at a cost, if they’ll take it, but that is totally contrary to the spirit of the States’ decision. ‘Incineration in Guernsey bad – incineration in Jersey good’ is a slogan which could come straight from the pages of George Orwell’s Animal Farm.

Another easy option, which would be even worse, would be to move from land-filling Mont Cuet to land-filling Les Vardes. That would be both an environmental and strategic disaster.

What’s the right answer?

I don’t know and don’t envy PSD having to come up with one against a very tight deadline. That’s why I started by asking: ‘Who would be a member of PSD?’

With a vacancy following Deputy Tony Spruce’s resignation, one deputy who should definitely join the team is Mary Lowe.

Having sunk the previous waste strategy she has a clear duty to step up to the plate. It’s no surprise that she’s unwilling to do so.