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The Scottish National Party have obtained figures from the Scottish
Executive that will fuel further debate and acrimony over the process of
restructuring the ferry company Calmac to prepare it for tendering for the
services it provides.
In the breakdown the figures supplied to SNP's Jim Mather show that £2
million was spend by the Scottish Executive on its own costs and £15
million were spent on Calmac itself.
The total could have bought the company a new ferry.
Caledonian MacBrayne has undergone a series of restructuring efforts to make
it fit for the tender process, splitting itself into at least three
companies along the way. One to operate the vessels on a day to day basis, one as a
vessel owning company, and one to manage and train crews. All of this was
supposed to make the company a viable one to tender alongside other
companies for the existing services the company currently provides. One by one other
companies, such as V.Ships and Western Ferries, dropped out as contenders
leaving only the new company, Calmac Ferries Ltd, in the running.
The whole process has been described as farcical and these latest
revelations will only add fuel to the critics' fire, especially in the light of the
possible closure of Ferguson Shipbuilders who have suffered from a lack of
orders partly due to Calmac being forced to follow EU rules of
procurement.
Critics say the process has been entirely un-necessary and wasteful and
that the Executive has needlessly adhered to dis-ingenuous interpretations of EU
competition rules.
The Scottish Executive have always maintained they had no option but to
put the routes out to tender and that the costs involved were unavoidable.
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