The debate over the state of Scotland’s infrastructure continues apace on our Letters Page.
On Friday, a correspondent argued that Westminster must take a share of the blame owing to its neglect of capital investment over many years.
Today a reader pens a stinging response.
Jane Lax of Aberlour writes:
"Iain Cope asks himself why Scotland still has “second-rate infrastructure including the ferries and ports”. In reply to his own question, as is often the case, Westminster gets blamed. The evidence says otherwise.
Let’s take the A96 and A9 as an example. The SNP promised to dual the roads. Yet this has not been done. Not because of Westminster but because the SNP is clueless as to how to run projects, isn't that interested in them and thinks that if they do go ahead with them and it goes pear-shaped, it has a scapegoat.
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Mr Cope says the Scottish Government has no fiscal tools to do much about our ports and ferries crumbling. If it had no fiscal tools, how did it manage to put the contract out for the two Ferguson Marine ferries and the ones from Turkey? It has the tools, it just doesn’t know how to use them. Imagine what would have been possible if the two ferries which will be worth £70,000 each weren’t going to cost the Scottish taxpayer nearly £400,000. That £330k could have been used to fund other projects. SNP incompetence is costing Scotland greatly. Start looking closer to home for the cause of our failing infrastructure.”
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