Re: “Independent review ordered for new highway,” (Aug. 12).
The ministry of transportation wants to spend thousands of taxpayer dollars on “an independent review of the design and construction of the interchange (at Highway 17 and Highway 91) to check its geometry and ensure it was built as planned.”
Question: Why? Either it was built to spec or it was not. Knowing so will not prevent cargo from rolling downhill. Some might even call it simple physics… the same “some” who probably already know what it will take to fix it.
Answer: Because politicians with their hands in our pockets have such a tenuous grasp of simple physics that they need to spend thousands of taxpayer dollars to have someone provide them with information they already have. Either “yes, it was built to plan but it needs fixing,” or “no, it was not built to plan and it needs fixing.”
Truth: the Ministry wants to spend taxpayer money on a review to tell them “it needs fixing” so they can buy time to figure out which insurance company will pay for it – the contractor’s or the planner’s. Of course this is irrelevant because by the time the repairs begin the plans will have changed beyond recognition and, in the end, as always, we the taxpayer will be paying for it.
In conclusion, Mr. Minister, please make the cheque for the review payable to “M. Taxpayer” and fix the interchange before someone gets killed.
M. Hulme
