Cancellation fo George Massey bridge a waste
The NDP B.C. minority government cancelled the George Massey bridge project.
Previous to their cancellation announcement, B.C. taxpayers had already spent $66 million on engineering and geotechnical work, public consultation, land procurement, and site clearing, including preparation for eventual widening of Highway 99.
B.C. Hydro has already spent $25 million on power line removal from inside the George Massey tunnel. Before the NDP announcement, three bids were already shortlisted for the main portion of the project and two of the bids submitted dollar amounts to back their contract bidding. Oct. 24, 2017, was to be the date for awarding the contract.
As the project is cancelled, the NDP minority government must pay each of these two contractors, $2 million each for non-completion of the contract bids. The NDP considers these payments as small pocket change, as the previous B.C. Liberal government left the province with a $2.8 billion surplus for the NDP to play around with. Ninety-five million dollars of taxpayers’ money spent for a bridge that will not be built. Say goodbye to 9,000 direct, union-wage jobs for three years and 8,000 indirect jobs.
Some voted for change. Before voting for change, they should have had their heads examined. Taxpayers in the other nine provinces can continue laughing, as politics in B.C. is known as entertainment. Unbelievable!
Joe Sawchuk
Duncan