Ferries fiasco not our fault, claim quango bosses

QUANGO bosses have claimed the fiasco that stalled a project to build two ferries has nothing to do with them.

Caledonian Maritime Assets Ltd (CMAL) agreed a £97million deal with Ferguson Marine to construct the vessels.

But the Clyde shipyard plunged into administration after a row over costs and delays and it was nationalised by SNP ministers. It is thought the final bill for taxpayers could top £250million. CMAL bosses yesterday told MSPs they could not have foreseen the problems and blamed ‘new management’ at Ferguson for all issues.

Asked at a rural economy and connectivity committee inquiry yesterday if he had any regrets over awarding the contract to Ferguson, James Anderson, CMAL director of vessels, said: ‘No, something went wrong after we signed the contract.’ He added: ‘This was a failure of management, of new management.’

During an appearance at the inquiry last month, Jim McColl, who owned Ferguson before it was taken into government control, blamed CMAL for the problems with the contract.

He also suggested Nicola Sturgeon had announced the price of the contract between his firm and CMAL was £97million while negotiations were still taking place. Asked about this claim about Miss Sturgeon, Mr Anderson said: ‘You’ve listened to the evidence from other people and quite a lot of that evidence is disingenuous.’

Scottish Tory economy spokesman Dean Lockhart said: ‘If CMAL and Transport Scotland are not willing to take responsibility for this fiasco, the only real conclusion is the blame lies with the SNP ministers involved in this shambles.’