'Difficult decisions have to be made,' P&R president says
DIFFICULT decisions will have to be made, Policy & Resources president Peter Ferbrache has said, as his committee put forward its suggestions for the re-prioritisation of States capital projects.
‘It is simply not possible to deliver all projects in the timescales originally planned,’ he said.
‘We need to reduce the cost of the current portfolio in recognition of our ongoing deficit and the need to make the limited reserves last longer.’
That has led to one major project, the future of Guernsey’s education system, being put as a priority over the next phase of the hospital modernisation programme.
Meetings to discuss P&R’s list are due to take place among the principal committees next month, but the final decisions on this list will be taken by the States.
Deputy Ferbrache said that P&R had looked at how to balance resources.
‘We’ve tried to balance what we can do with the resources, both physical resources when it comes to building buildings, etc, and cash resources, to try to equitably spread it along various projects.’
One project it does recommend to press ahead is the work to rehabilitate Alderney’s runway, which was approved by the States at a cost of £24m., but Deputy Ferbrache said that £18m. of this was work that had to be done.
‘I don’t think any sensible person would say it shouldn’t be done.’
There would be a further £4m. or so for the terminal building and the fire station, ‘so we’re talking about somewhere around £6m. for the actual extension of the runway’.
‘There’ll be more benefits, we believe, to the taxpayers of the Bailiwick of Guernsey, if we went ahead with that project, in full.’
Projects destined for the ‘pipeline’ will not be funded during this term, he said.
This will include reviewing the future of Guernsey Dairy, the inert waste facility, replacing CCTV equipment, coastal flood defences and Guernsey Airport’s runway infrastructure.
‘We are doing things that we can afford,’ Deputy Ferbrache said.
‘We can just about afford the things that we are recommending should be proceeded with.’
Other matters will need extra income and if the States, either this one or the next, did not find that extra income, it would be ‘very difficult indeed’ to do any infrastructure works, unless the States wanted to borrow substantial sums of money, he added.
Having the States choose between different projects, especially between education and the hospital, was not going to be easy, he admitted.
‘I don’t pretend or claim that it’s going to be a debate that anybody is looking forward to, but decisions have to be made,’ he said.
‘If the States say “Forget all this, we’re going to go ahead with absolutely everything on the original list”, then we’ve got other problems and we’re going to have to borrow significant sums of money.'
