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Emergency waiting to happen Government must plow Old Mill Road Goobies January 25, 200
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Percy Barrett, Liberal MHA for the District of Bellevue,
is calling on Transportation and Works Minister Tom Rideout to send highways
equipment to Old Mill Road in Goobies to assist stranded residents before an
emergency situation arises. "Government failed to address the impending situation in the Local Service District of Goobies and now the residents are trapped," said Barrett. "Regardless of government policy, in the interim, it is essential that the plows be sent in immediately to avoid any serious situations that could arise. No other Local Service District in the province has been placed in this precarious situation of not being able to access snow-clearing services. Students are unable to get to school, residents cannot get to work and emergency vehicles do not have access in the case of an emergency. "I have received numerous calls about the situation in this community ever since government made the decision to cut snow-clearing services. The Minister and the residents have yet to meet and hammer out an agreement that is acceptable to both sides. I cannot emphasize enough the need to get this road cleared today. It is not acceptable for the Minister to neglect these people who have been receiving services of the government for the past 30 years." Barrett wants Minister Rideout and Minister Jack Byrne to become involved in the crisis situation that has occurred in the Local Service District of Goobies. "The residents have been seeking meetings and compromises from both of these Ministers concerning the situation in this area. The government must listen, plow the road today, and sit down for meaningful discussions to find a permanent solution for the people permanently living on this road." The Liberal MHA first raised this issue after the
tabling of a provincial budget in 2004 that cut snow-clearing and road
maintenance services to roads in the Class 4 category. Barrett and the
residents of Old Mill Road have disputed the classification of this road,
the former access to the Burin Peninsula highway. Other roads in the
province have been upgraded by the government in order to receive services
amid controversial allegations of political patronage by the Minister of
Finance and Minister of Transportation and Works. |
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