THE Canal & River Trust is encumbered with the ways of contractors, writes Paul Downs.
It was one of your contributors who pointed out how its contractors usually work by dragging a job out from a Monday to Friday, and I see that this week there are those that either have, or will, end on a Friday.
Stretch to a week
It is quite obvious they want to stretch even small jobs out to last a week. Starting on a Monday usually means that work on the stoppage is held up until the Monday comes round, and the stoppage then lasts to the Friday, causing grief to us boaters. (I've been stopped by three of them now.)
Having been boating now for 30 years I well remember the times that when a stoppage under British Waterways occurred, its men were there quickly with none of this ridiculous 'establishing a method of repair' preventing work from starting, for they knew what the 'method of repair' was and so got on with it, and quickly.
Costing a colossal amount
And this must be costing a colossal amount of money for Canal & River Trust, so little wonder a cry for more cash.
(I understand when it was turned into a charity it was the government that insisted upon contractors. So if it is not giving more cash it could help by allowing it to go back to in-house working instead of expensive contractors and thus save millions.)