Nova Scotia’s Deputy Minister of Transportation and Infrastructure Renewal (DTIR) confirmed today that no review was ever conducted on the province’s mothballed public paving plant.
And the Nova Scotia Highway Workers’ Union (CUPE Local 1867) says taxpayers deserve to know whether they got good value for their tax dollars.
DTIR Deputy Minister Paul Lafleche was appearing before the Public Accounts Committee this morning, where he made the remarks.
LaFleche also seemed to suggest that the pilot project had the net result of lowering bid prices from the big, private roadbuilders.
CUPE National Representative Peter Baxter says, “Transportation Minister Geoff MacLellan owes it to taxpayers to conduct a thorough review of the pilot project, especially before they sell the mobile plant for what will surely be a huge loss.”
According to DTIR staff, the mobile plant’s value has already depreciated by 20%.
Says Baxter, “This project meant paving was being done in remote parts of the province that hadn’t seen pavers in decades, and it amounted to less than three percent of the road work that was being done. “Frankly, the private contractors had been ignoring these areas. Our public plant was filling a crucial need in a way that was augmenting the work being done by private contractors,” says Baxter.