Something has gone seriously wrong

SIR, At the hearing of the green bin petition on October 23 last year, the Waste Treatment Unit planned for Easter Langlee was hailed as the panacea for all the council’s waste management problems. No fears about its delivery or performance were voiced. Also following a visit by a 16-strong council delegation to the NES treatment centre at Avonmouth just over four months ago, Councillor Parker was quoted in your newspaper as saying: “The Avonmouth visit was valuable and illuminating. I am satisfied after our visit that we are on the right track and confident the WTF (waste treatment facility) will be up and running before the 2019 contract deadline, hopefully by mid-2017.” It has now been announced that this project is to be scrapped and Mr Parker along with other council spokespersons have given a number of assurances, one being that “£2 million was properly spent on the Waste Treatment Project with New Earth Solutions (NES), given the contractual obligations with New Earth Solutions the money was used both appropriately and we believe effectively.” Another stated: “The project was well managed throughout.” In spite of these assurances a slight difficulty exists because something has gone seriously wrong and £2 million plus of taxpayers money has been spent and there is nothing to show for it. The claims that this project was well managed throughout require to be substantiated by independent audit to confirm that proper risk assessments were carried out prior to the contract being awarded and the council exercised due diligence in asserting that NES possessed the technology and the funding to deliver a project claimed to be the first in Scotland but not yet proven on a commercial scale.