Remember 2014? New ferries, the Scottish government said!

WooHoo! 🎉⛴ 🍾 That means a reliable, resilient lifeline ferry service to the Scottish islands in:

2015 2016 2017 2018 2019 2020 2021 2022 2023 2024 2025 ????

Oh wait… No ferries.

• No refunds from now-failed Ferguson Marine
• Cost overruns double original £97M bid, and rising
• New builds have to be purchased from Turkey because of the two rusting hulls taking up space in the government-owned, government-run shipyard
• Estimates for harbour renovations and ferry completion are up to £450-million+
• Island residents unable to book trips for urgent medical and personal needs
• Island economies reeling, jobs disappearing, businesses closing, shops with bare shelves, fuel shortages, tourist/hospitality industry at risk
• ?????

Does this mean that 300 mythical shipyard jobs are more important than the jobs, lives, and local economies of over 100,000 island residents?

Who are the April Fools now?

If Isle of Jura resident George Orwell (Animal Farm, 1984, etc.) had to depend on today’s government-managed ferries, I wonder what he would say…