Sir, Michael Alexander (Courier, February 25) reports that Fife Council Labour administration leader, Councillor Alex Rowley, says completion of the £1.6 billion (per metre the most expensive in the world) new Forth bridge was “absolutely crucial”. I suppose he would say that wouldn’t he?
But should we listen to him or his colleagues in the Forth Estuary Transport Authority (Feta), who convinced Transport Scotland that a new bridge was necessary?
Feta, has a CEO and four councillors from Fife Council (£712 million debt, 2012) and four councillors from the City of Edinburgh Council (£1.5 billion debt, 2012) and their track record for maintenance looks about as bad on the bridge as it is on their pot-holed roads.
Take Feta’s painting of the Forth Road Bridge Towers as an example. Work started on this task in 2002 and with the underside of both towers painted by 2003 a series of delays due to technical problems and contractual difficulties, the contractor was sacked and Feta stated that their own in-house team would complete this work by October 2009.
The “dropped object canopy” is dismantled as the last stage of the main tower painting project and unless I am missing something, when I passed over the bridge recently it is still there large as life, so unless this is 2009, the job ain’t finished yet. I make that a total of 11 years so far to paint the towers!
No doubt the councillors of Feta will have many excuses for their failures to keep on programme with the tower painting, which is at least four years late by their own extended programme and how much over budget I shudder to think. Perhaps they can tell us?
With the major and minor roads on both sides of the Forth in a truly shocking state would it not be better if councillors spent more of their energy and time on their own business?
Tom Minogue. 94 Victoria Terrace, Dunfermline.
Not to do with health just another tax
Sir, While I totally agree with Dr Wrieden on her stance against fizzy drinks, (Courier letters, February 26), I am not convinced the proposals of taxing them has anything to do with health.
This government is fast running out of things to tax, this is merely another source they have thought of. I complained in this paper back in October when they added 20% VAT to the health drink Whey Protein.
I also said that sports and health were being priced beyond the means of ordinary families; going back to pre-war when only the rich landed gentry engaged in sport.
With more and more people losing the ability to feed their children, let alone pay for sports facilities, health in this country will no doubt deteriorate in the next few years.
The next tax is likely to be on the amount of oxygen the average person takes from the climate causing untold damage.
You may laugh now, but if 20 years ago you told anyone that the Scottish mountains would disappear under a blanket of windmills they would have laughed then, too.
W Duthie. 25 St Fillans Road, Dundee.
This neededto be said
Sir, Nothing could symbolise better the entitlement generation than a geology graduate going to court when told to work for the jobseekers allowance taxpayers give her.
And nothing could demonstrate the moral hazards created by our judiciary like its rebuke to the government for stopping handouts to those refusing work experience. An outraged Iain Duncan Smith said that unlike this pampered girl who thinks herself too grand to stack supermarket shelves, Tesco boss Terry Leahy started that way.
He rightly added: “I want this generation to understand that the days when the work-shy could expect to be given benefits and do nothing for them are over.”
Absolutely spot on!
Dr John Cameron. 10 Howard Place, St Andrews.
Difficult to diagnose
Sir, I was deeply saddened to read about the Fife teenager Gregor Smith, 13, a pupil of Kirkcaldy High School, who died suddenly of meningitis. Meningitis and septicaemia are notoriously difficult to diagnose. He had a rash, which is often a clear indicator of septicaemia, the blood poisoning form of the disease.
On behalf of Meningitis UK, which represents thousands of families who have experienced the devastation caused by meningitis and associated diseases, I pass on our heartfelt sympathies to Gregor’s family and friends.
I lost my son Spencer to meningitis and septicaemia some time ago and can well imagine the pain that all those who knew Gregor are suffering.
Meningitis UK is fighting back against all forms of meningitis-related disease. Because the diseases strike so quickly and can be difficult to detect, we fund preventative research to develop vaccines to protect future generations.
If any of your readers would like a free symptoms pack or further information, please call Meningitis UK on 0117 947 6320 or visit www.meningitisUK.org
Steve Dayman. Founder, Meningitis UK.