There are fears it could take as long as 30 years to fix Scotland’s failing infrastructure due to the mess the SNP has created. New analysis has shown that major building and improvement projects could take almost three decades to complete.
The latest update to the Scottish Government’s Infrastructure Investment Plan shows many of its biggest schemes are at least a year behind schedule. Across all 19 of the projects included in the list, delays are estimated at 10,719 days – equivalent to more than 29 years, reports the Mail on Sunday.
The hold-ups include key health projects such as the roll-out of NHS Treatment Centres, which former First Minister Humza Yousaf promised would slash hospital waiting times. They were originally set to be operational by December 2022.
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Scottish Labour’s finance spokesman Michael Marra said the SNP ‘is letting the very fabric of our country crumble’.
Delays are blighting trunk roads, including dualling sections of the A9, while timescales and costs for decarbonising rolling stock through electrification of the railway line in Fife have yet to be determined.
Meanwhile CalMac’s Glen Sannox ferry – expected to start carrying passengers next month – was originally due for delivery in 2018, and a new prison, HMP Highland, is at least two years behind schedule – despite record overcrowding in jails.
The government said there were ‘significant pressures’ on its capital budget due to ‘the high level of inflation’ in the construction sector.
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