Ulster Unionist MLA for Fermanagh & South Tyrone, Tom Elliott, has hit out at Minister for Regional Development Conor Murphy, after discovering that there will be an estimated 24% fall in spending on road structural maintenance this year compared with 200
Fall in spending on roads structural maintenance “Dramatic and worrying”
Ulster Unionist MLA for Fermanagh & South Tyrone, Tom Elliott, has hit out at Minister for Regional Development Conor Murphy, after discovering that there will be an estimated 24% fall in spending on road structural maintenance this year compared with 2008.
Tom said: “The figures that I received from the Department for Regional Development make for very worrying reading. It is estimated that the total spend on road structural maintenance for 2009 will reach £59m, down from £77.3m for 2008. Infact, this total is set to be the lowest amount spent on our roads in each of the last seven years, and is some 29% or almost a third down on the figure of £82.8m spent in 2003/04. Sadly the fall in spending does not mean that our roads have improved dramatically in that time. Rather, many roads have got worse including many in rural areas where there is a large volume of heavy vehicles such as tractors and Lorries.”
“As I travel throughout Fermanagh & South Tyrone, many of the roads I use have not had any substantial work carried out for a number of years and there are often visible potholes and signs of extreme wear and tear. The standard of surface in many places is simply not fit for a modern road network in the 21st Century. Notably, this is not just a problem in my constituency but throughout Northern Ireland and it is unacceptable that at a time when we really need to be enhancing our infrastructure and attempting to move Northern Ireland forward we find that the spending on our road structural maintenance is going backwards.”
“I appreciate that given the current economic situation all the Ministers in the Executive are having to make cuts in spending. However, I would argue that the massive cut we are seeing in road structural maintenance is too large and will end up costing us more in the long run. It is worth remembering that as a country we are reliant, both economically and socially, upon a viable and efficient road network. In many areas of Northern Ireland public transport is limited and there is little or no railway service at all. This is why I am convinced that this cut is wrong and why I would call on Minister Murphy to look into this matter with haste and with a view to increasing the amount available for road structural maintenance.”
