LETTER: Councillor candidate questions debt
AT THE council meeting last week "Emu Swamp Business Case" was received and noted.
Cost of the dam and infrastructure is now $121.5million (including interest) for the recommended "Scenario 2", with "customers" contributing 35%, customers being irrigators (22%) and SDRC (13% ie $15.8million which equates to a one-off cost for urban use of $21,000 per Ml.)
The ongoing operational and maintenance costs are not taken into account.
Many have been led to believe the dam would be funded wholly by government money like the National Water Infrastructure Development Fund.
Approvals have not yet been given for the preferred scenario.
The report states: "Further work is needed to determine the project's feasibility and NWIDF funding will be important in this regard."
Council is in debt. An additional amount of up to $7million of the "customers'" money has already been spent on endless consultants' reports and studies.
Have the customers applied to the government for an extension of time?
Surely a full feasibility study is one of the first steps after such a proposal as Emu Swamp Dam is put forward and therefore should have been done years ago?
Who is driving this?
Sue Johnson, SDRC Candidate 2016
