Economy
Troubled cop boat ‘a lemon’. Bridgewater bridge a’dud’. Car hire bill
A PARLIAMENTARY inquiry into the shortcomings of the $1.6 million PV Fortescue yesterday heard the boat would never be able to complete all the tasks it was designed to perform.
Tasmania Police Assistant Commissioner Phil Wilkinson said the reasons for the failings were “vague and uncertain”.
Mr Wilkinson said the design was not “tried and tested”.
But he said it was clear the plethora of problems the boat had experienced since its launch in late 2008 had led to a lack of confidence among those who used the vessel.
“If you were to ask the crew which boat they had more confidence in, they would say the Freycinet [the boat the Fortescue replaced],” Mr Wilkinson said.
“But comparing them is like comparing apples and oranges.”
Committee chairman Ivan Dean suggested the analogy was “more like comparing apples and lemons”.
A report by Auditor-General Mike Blake last year suggested it might be financially and operationally preferable for Tasmania Police to scrap the boat rather than repair it.
Despite numerous works to rectify faults, PV Fortescue still performs poorly, is unable to handle rough seas and has cramped sleeping quarters.
And the boat vibrates excessively and is very noisy.
Earlier on Tasmanian Times: Inquiry into PV Fortescue
First published: 2011-05-03 12:00 AM
• ABC Online, Thursday: Bridgewater bridge a ‘dud’
The Tasmanian Liberals have branded the trouble-plagued Bridgewater Bridge a dud.
A computer problem caused the lifting mechanism to fail yesterday afternoon, the fourth failure since February.
The bridge was reopened in December after a four-year, $14 million makeover.
The Opposition’s infrastructure spokesman, Rene Hidding says yesterday’s failure left a ferry boat stuck for about an hour.
“We simply can’t have this amount of money spent on a relatively simple, to have vessels with customers on the water simply having to turn back,” he said.
“Alternatively if the bridge was to jam open then obviously we’d have massive traffic disruption as well.”
The Department of Infrastructure Energy and Resources is investigating the latest problem.