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Wally Andersen, Opposition Transportation, Works, Labrador and Aboriginal
Affairs Critic and MHA for the District of Torngat Mountains, says the
announcement today of a $250,000 contract to study vessel replacement is not
acceptable. Andersen says government must take immediate steps to locally
build new ferries to replace the aging provincial fleet. "During the last
provincial election, the Williams government made a commitment to the people
served by the provincial ferry fleet that vessel replacement would be a
priority," said Andersen. "After two years in office, government has now
announced it will study the issue before moving forward with the
construction of any new vessels.
"It is time for the Premier and Minister of Transportation and Works to
move forward with vessel replacement immediately. Today’s announcement is an
attempt by the Minister to defer the spending of money on new ferries until
after the next election in 2007. A need exists for new vessels and a number
of facilities in the province are capable of building them to service
communities in need. This is not positive news as represented in the news
release issued by the minister, but another broken promise that would have
helped rural areas of our province.
"Recent service disruptions for Long Island, St. Brendan’s and other
areas are evidence of an increasing problem. Many of the ferries currently
operating have outlived their useful lives and it is time to replace them
with new boats. The Premier made a commitment to the people of the province.
It is time they stopped their continuous stalling tactics and moved forward
with their promised initiative."
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