Minister clarifies snow clearing practices on the Bonavista Peninsula and staff reorganization

Tom Rideout, Minister of Transportation and Works, today clarified snow clearing practices on the Bonavista Peninsula and staff reorganization in his department. Minister Rideout said: "An unusual situation occurred on the Bonavista Peninsula in relation to the amount of snow that fell, and our staff responded as quickly as possible. Furthermore, there has been no change in the number of staff monitoring our roads during the winter, from previous years."

"Unfortunately, some residents of the Bonavista Peninsula were actually snowed in for five days. However, there were four snow storms over the course of six days. There were approximately 70 centimetres of snow that fell in a 24-hour period," said the minister. "That was an extraordinary circumstance."

"While we use our equipment as effectively and efficiently as possible, it is aging. This has been the effect of years of neglect and underfunding of our snowclearing equipment by the previous administration," said Minister Rideout. "Our government must continue to balance our need for new equipment with our limited resources and replace the equipment within our fiscal means to do so."

As was announced early in 2004, the Department of Transportation and Works re-organized management staff at depots throughout the province, in order to run the department in a more effective and efficient manner.

"My department did not eliminate 13 Highway Maintenance Workers. We did, however, change 13 management positions from year round to winter-seasonal. There was no impact on the number of our staff who are dedicated to maintaining our roads during the winter season," said Minister Rideout. "The same number of staff that were in place in previous years, continue to be in place. It is misleading to suggest otherwise."

It has been asked why the department has paid out termination fees. Minister Rideout said: "Severance and redundancy fees were paid, by the Department of Transportation and Works, to employees who chose to accept the opportunity to retire when their positions were eliminated. The total amount of money paid out by the department also encompassed changes in areas other than our highway maintenance division."

Media contact: Lori Lee Oates, ABC, Communications, (709) 729-3015, 690-8403

2005 02 09                     1:30 p.m.