The saga of the unfinished Arran ferries took another new turn yesterday when Ferguson Marine chief executive David Tydeman had his contract terminated over continuing delays.
Today one our readers argues that the wrong person was made to walk the plank, and that a succession of SNP ministers – including Nicola Sturgeon and Humza Yousaf – should have been the ones to pay the price.
Jane Lax of Aberlour writes:
"Another one bites the dust, as they say. The latest chief executive of Ferguson Marine, David Tydeman, has been sacked. He is just the latest in a long line to be held accountable for delays and rising costs regarding the two ferries. Mairi McAllan, the Economy Secretary said she was focusing on getting the ferries finished and driving down costs. A bit late for driving down costs when one ferry alone now has a price tag of almost £150m.
"The problem is that those ultimately responsible are the likes of Keith Brown, the then Cabinet Secretary for Infrastructure, Investment and Cities, who is still sitting in Holyrood drawing a taxpayer-funded salary and Nicola Sturgeon and Humza Yousaf, who as First Ministers allowed this sorry saga to drag on and on. They should be held to account and be forced to resign for their part in this debacle.
"The then Economy Secretary Neil Gray had an opportunity last year to stop the work on Ferry 802 following a value for money assessment. He admitted that it would be cheaper to buy a new ferry elsewhere but carried on regardless, wasting taxpayers’ money.
"The plug should have been pulled on this years ago. More and more good money is being thrown after bad to try to save face. I hope those mentioned above hang their heads in shame if the ferries ever do start taking passengers. They have wasted so much money and time on a doomed project rather than making the right decisions at the time to build ferries suitable to the routes and with finalised plans."
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