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George Sweeney, Opposition Government Services Critic and
MHA for Carbonear-Harbour Grace District, says that the recently released
Auditor General’s report indicates that more attention should be paid to
safety inspections conducted by the Department of Government Services.
"In the last budget, this government cut the amount of
funding for safety inspection stations and they laid off inspectors," said
Sweeney. "The information contained in this report clearly shows that this
was not the right direction. Government should be increasing their
inspection capabilities in all coverage areas."
The Liberal MHA says he is particularly disturbed by
the information related to school bus safety. "This is an issue I have
raised in the House of Assembly (Question Period, December 7, 2004) and
through news releases several times. This report provides clear evidence
that there are some serious problems and deficiencies. The question now is
whether government reverses their decision and takes immediate action to
address these problems."
Earlier this year (News Release, January 12, 2004)
Sweeney raised questions about school bus safety and called on Minister
Dianne Whalen to provide answers related to seatbelts, overcrowding and bus
inspections. "The Auditor General has now criticized government policy which
allows school buses to operate without undergoing rigorous inspections by
government officers. When Government officers did inspections, hundreds of
violations were found and buses were pulled out of service that were
carrying our school-children. The Minister continues to brush these concerns
aside, eventually it will take a serious accident to open her eyes and deal
with the situation."
The Liberal MHA has raised concerns with the
relatively high price of gas in the province, some private contractors and
even school boards may have been facing a cash crunch and not able to do
proper maintenance on the school buses they operate. For this reason it is
important to be sure that bus inspections are being done in comprehensive
and timely manner. "I was concerned that even if there was a remote
possibility that they are not being done, we had a responsibility to
question government on this matter and bring it to the attention of the
public. I was also concerned because of the serious problems which have
existed in other departments because of backlogs brought on by budgetary
cuts. School bus operators have since spoken out in the media confirming my
suspicions, despite the refusal of the Ministers involved to acknowledge a
problem."
Sweeney says school boards are being forced to
undertake such cost saving measures because of the cutbacks which are being
forced on them by government. "School boards are not able to make the kind
of savings the government imposed on them with board restructuring and now
we are seeing many things being compromised."
The Liberal MHA says while many of these problems have
developed over a period of time, it is the responsibility of the current
government to see that these important issues are adequately addressed.
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