‘The sheer scale of the mismanagement requires tough action’

The remarkable statement by Deputy St Pier about the mismanagement of two major States projects, and the likelihood there are further cases coming down the pike, was bad enough for any islander to read.

But it must have been absolutely incendiary for the many here trying to maintain a reasonable standard of living in the face of everyday challenges like the rising price of food, astronomical housing costs, and above-inflation electricity price increases, given the median pay level on Guernsey is at best £42,600 or at worst £39,000 (depending on who calculates it).

The bungled projects were blamed on ‘unnamed senior figures’ in the civil service.

This raises many so-far unanswered questions. First and foremost, who are they? Have they fallen on their swords? Have they been demoted, including being given a pay and pension cut? Have they been asked to clear their desks? If the answer to all is a negative, why? And when is someone going to tell us? The cost of the mess-ups demands answers.

For those on that median salary or less, struggling to get by, there’s no doubt another question, too.

Do the guilty parties fall within the group of States’ 41 executives who last year were paid at least five times what they received? Or within the 21 who take home £220,000 or more? Or within the eight above £285,000?

This is a case where there has to be accountability. The sheer scale of the mismanagement requires tough action, if only to prevent the same people delivering the same sort of mess again. There has to be remedial action, not the usual cliched expressions so loved of politicians when trying to calm the troubled waters of public anger.

And there is no point in blaming it on the previous States work – another typical trick – either, given 18 of the current deputies were around last time.

Stuart Garner
St Martin’s