Where’s the emergency?
WE HAVE known now for 15 months that the States of Guernsey has been interested in buying a conventional ferry for Condor Ferries. The journey has had plenty of twists and turns and has not got anyone particularly far… possibly hence the recent, surprising involvement of the Civil Contingencies Authority.
The on-off purchase of the new Condor Islander has been shrouded in mystery and uncertainty. The involvement of the CCA now takes that mystery into entirely new territory, and leaves islanders with so many questions unanswered.
The biggest concern may well be how the use of emergency powers will obfuscate the reasons behind the deal and the terms of it. Because most islanders would fail to see the pressing need to purchase a vessel, a fifth vessel that is, for the Condor fleet, let alone class it as an emergency.
Fortunately, the CCA chairman and chief minister ‘wants to be as forthright and transparent with the community as possible’ and so ‘will provide as much clarity as I can’.
Because islanders will want to know why we’ve got no money but can spend £3m. on a boat. What the ‘significant challenges’ are that derailed the original deal. And why the matter rapidly escalated to need to consider ‘potential risks to the island’s supply chain’.
What the legal advice to avoid a potential emergency was, we may never get to know. But if it was an emergency, why don’t lifeline travel links appear to carry the same emergency risks for Jersey?