La Collette Incinerator

 

Here’s something I sent to the JEP, but they didn’t publish:

As if the grotesque and hideous eyesore that is the new incinerator building wasn’t bad enough, we now learn ‘it is likely’ Guernsey’s rubbish will be burnt here. I also note a figure of £120 / ton is quoted, meaning we would be subsidising our sister Island as well (running costs and plant amortisation will exceed that sum).

The whole incinerator issue has long smacked of corruption, incompetence – or a mixture of both, so I can only hope one of our more energetic States members (not many of those these days) will pursue this matter and request a Committee of Inquiry into this whole sorry affair. Not a four hour speech – just a simple Proposition with basic facts.

We know why the incinerator (a one-fingered salute to anyone visiting Jersey by sea) is where it is. The Bellozanne Covenant precluded the parishioners of St Helier being charged for rubbish disposal so, to enable equity when the Rubbish Tax arrives, it was necessary to build the new plant elsewhere.
And look at the size of it! About as big as Fort Regent.

What we don’t know – and never will without an Inquiry – is why we paid £100m when a world-renowned firm – Babcock & Wilcox – was willing to build it for £60m. It’s not as if they’re a small firm; just look them up on the internet.

Neither do we have satisfactory answers as to why a) modern technology was wilfully ignored, b) the unit is so large.

I was on the original Scrutiny Panel that looked into the whole matter, and many of the answers we received were either misleading or downright untrue. It makes one wonder what agenda was running in the background.

We now learn Jersey is ”likely to burn Guernsey’s rubbish”. Really? As Guernsey has allegedly decided to shelve plans for its own incinerator  (which will mean a multi-million pound compensation to contractors) they must be pretty sure of their ground.

The media tells us our Civil Servants are discussing the issue with their Guernsey counterparts and our ministers are not involved  (never mind the Jersey public). This matter is a POLICY, not an administrative, issue so here is the proof, as I’ve often argued – our Island is run by civil servants, not our elected politicians.

Ask yourself – if you were selling £60m worth of kit for £100m, how much would you ‘lubricate’ the deal?  1 %? 5%?  10%?   (5% = £5m).  And yes, civil servants have told me that contractors do offer ‘incentives’.  And let’s face it, for many unexplained issues locally, corruption is the only logical explanation. I hasten to add though, I only know of one or two examples. So the Island needs to ask, is this incinerator shambles corruption, incompetence, or a mixture of both? Only a Committee of Inquiry has the power to resolve that.

And if we find this issue truly has been driven by civil servants, then those involved should be disciplined and the minister(s) involved removed from office.

And finally – remember how we were told the incinerator had to be this big to have reserve emergency capacity? 
But out of the blue we’re now told we could accept Guernsey’s waste for TEN years (half the plant’s lifespan).
Guernsey will need some form of security, so we will need to guarantee we’d handle their waste without interruption. Essentially what that means is that there will be spare capacity INCLUDING burning Guernsey’s rubbish.
SO WE WERE LIED TO. Who would have guessed that!
I’ve always suspected there was some chicanery going on in the background – the usual ‘hidden agenda’. 
So what Babcock & Wilcox said was correct – the plant was too big – and grossly overpriced. But who cares? Evidently not our States members. After all, it’s only OUR money.

PS – I mentioned above that Babcock & Wilcox weren’t a small firm – they’ve traded world-wide since before WW2, have built hundreds of waste plants – and handle all America’s nuclear arsenal.  And would have built our incinerator for £60m, not £100m.

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