Responding to the sudden departure of CalMac Chief Executive Robbie Drummond, Highlands and Islands MSP and Convener of the Scottish Parliament’s Cross Party Group on Islands, Jamie Halcro Johnston said:
“The SNP’s complete mismanagement of our ferries network lurches from one crisis to another.
“In the last month alone, we have seen the bosses of both Ferguson Marine and CalMac forced out, but we are yet to see even one SNP minister in Edinburgh lose their job.
“Island communities have endured years of unreliable – and worsening – services under the SNP, and so I doubt islanders will be in any way placated by the Scottish Government trying to make this pair scapegoats for a ferries crisis that stems solely from incompetence and lack of investment by Scottish ministers and officials in Edinburgh.
“There has been a succession of transport ministers, including Humza Yousaf himself, who have utterly failed to get on top of the problem and have allowed the mismanagement of our ferries network to continue.
“Scotland's island communities deserve better than the service they are getting, and they deserve better than the endless false promises of SNP ministers who, time and time again, have failed to get a grip of the crisis, or to even understand the real impact it is having on our island communities.
“When Parliament reconvenes, we need an urgent statement from the Scottish Government on what’s been going on, and we need honest answers from Scottish ministers on their role in this later debacle.”
ENDS
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