Opposition Deputy Leader Joey Hew has urged Premier Wayne Panton to “get on with the job” of finalising the financial close for the ReGen project, as he reiterated the risk of fires reoccurring at the George Town landfill still exists.
Hew, in an eight-page response to Panton’s statement on the project last Monday,
addressed claims that the Progressives’ administration had “misled” the public on the project and that the ReGen delays were due to significant issues not being finalised by the previous government.
Hew stated the Progressives had “never said there was a ‘fully negotiated contract’ that PACT could get on and execute as the Premier claims”.
“From the outset, we have been clear that more work was needed to complete the contracting process. That can clearly be seen in the announcement of the signing of the project agreement in March 2021. It is because we understood the amount of work needed to complete the contract that we were so concerned about PACT’s delays,” he said.
The Progressives, Hew said, understood that it would take six months of “hard negotiating to get the project over the line and we had built that into the project timetable.”
Hew took issue with the premier’s statement that he was lashing out at the employees of the Department of Environmental Health because he was concerned that the current landfill tipping area was not being properly managed.
“Yes, I am concerned that the area now being used is not being managed properly because I know that the Government has not provide the DEH with the resources necessary to manage it properly. My concern is for fires, especially as the landfill is in my constituency and it is my constituents who are most at risk. But my concern is also for the safety and wellbeing of the employees who work on the landfill,” Hew argued.
He urged the premier “to focus less on excuses and have his Government ensure that DEH has the equipment and resources to manage the landfill with safety in mind”.
Hew, in defending the timeline of events, pointed to the premier’s statement which he said refers to a document from legal advisors setting out the outstanding issues he was given in August 2021.
“That was 4 months into the PACT government and meant 4 of the 6 months to get to financial close had passed before the Premier, as Minister responsible, even looked at the work that needed doing,” he said.
In March 2021, the public-private partnership between the Dart-led consortium and the government was formalised under the Progressives-led administration, weeks before the 14 April general election.
Panton said the ReGen project’s financial close was the end of November and that work on the environmental impact assessment for the project had restarted.
Dart, Panton said, is working with a number of environmental consultants to undertake the baseline technical studies set by the terms of reference that were finalised in October 2021 after the required public consultation process.
Hew, in welcoming the premier’s commitment to the project’s financial close, said as the ReGen project moves forward, the jurisdiction will expect periodic updates on the progress.
“After months of silence from the Premier it is good that he has at long last made a definitive commitment to delivering on this important environmental project. I urge him to stop with the excuses and get on with the job to ensure the new deadline is met and there are no more delays and risks caused,” he added.
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