Letter Printed in Dunoon Observer, 19th February 2010 Dear Editor As of Monday 15th February the fate of the town centre ferry service
was effectively sealed because that was the deadline for submission for
tender bids or requests to participate for the replacement of the current
service You might be forgiven for not knowing this. After all, all government
and local council representatives who might be expected to bang the drum
to encourage strong bids for this tender have been about as vocal as a
Trappist monk with laryngitis. But why be surprised when the actual announcement
of the contract was made on New Years Eve, which could hardly be bettered
if you did not want to invite interest and if you do not want any awkward
questions from the media. A previous editor of this paper, Bill Jardine, once said in these pages
that I had a knack of making the right predictions as to what was going
to happen next with the ferries. There was no mystery to this, just a
matter of knowing what the vested interests are here. I am not going to make any firm predictions, but I will point out some
things that are likely now we are into the final stages regarding the
town centre vehicle and passenger service First, expect fast passenger ferry solutions once again, once more getting
much publicity in the national press, and again as practical and as needed
(and as long lasting) as all the fast passenger proposals that preceded
them Second, expect delays that will have the unfortunate effect of shunting
as much of this process as is possible until after the Holyrood elections
in May 2011, with probable extensions to the contracts of Jupiter and
Ali Cat Third, expect national and local government politicians to express disappointment
when the exercise fails to deliver the modern vehicle-carrying ferry service
the town centre route needs. Fourth, expect some vested interests to question whether the public really
wants a vehicle and passenger town centre service, despite all the evidence
to the contrary Fifth, (and this is a definite prediction), the national and local leaders
who were quick to claim the credit for arranging this tender process (that
is, Minister Stewart Stevenson and Council leader Dick Walsh) will refuse
to accept the blame for any ensuing debacle. Neil Kay |