Concern over tender approval
IT IS with disgust I read in the Katherine Times (May 4, 2016) that the council has awarded a contract on Florina Road to a Darwin company over the local contractor, Downes Graderways, whose tender was higher and closer to the real cost.
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The local company knows the area and the pitfalls, which the council engineer may not be aware of and gets 95 per cent of the information off a computer model.
The elected members cross their fingers that the company can complete the job and not go broke or pull out, leaving the job uncompleted and the council having to re-tender it at the ratepayers’ expense.
I have heard where the local council encourages people to buy local – why is it that they do not practice what they preach?
To make matters worse, the elected members supposedly sat and never asked a question.
The company received a 98.93 per cent value for money rating and I do not know what wizard worked this out, as the job is not yet started.
We have a couple of other capable companies in Katherine also able to carry out these jobs, whether or not they tendered.
I know the Downes family contributes a large amount of funds in the form of rates each year to Katherine Town Council.
The company has been instrumental in the construction of a couple of sporting venues that I know of, in conjunction with other companies, free of charge.
It sponsors other sporting bodies in cash and kind, employs local labour all-year round, buys local and supports other local construction companies in Katherine.
Downes Graderways in a locally-owned and operated company in Katherine since 1975 – can out-of-town companies match their contribution to the town?
At present, the Katherine economy is battling, and tenders such as this would help.
Does the council have no interest, or does it just not care?
Jim King snr, Katherine
Insults need to be abandoned for debate
A VERY valid point was raised in the editorial last week.
Insults and dispersions do very little to aid in a sensible conversation about the pros and cons of onshore gas extraction.
I am willing to admit that I have been guilty of doing so in the past, and confess I should have practised restraint on more than one occasion.
It is a contentious, divisive and extremely important issue for the Northern Territory, and one that needs to be conclusively resolved for the sake of the entire community.
A referendum is the only way that this can be achieved, and there is no excuse for the Giles government not to hold one and resolve this matter once and for all.
If 51 per cent of the people in the NT are pro-fracking, I will be the first to humbly apologise for being a hindrance and bow out of the debate immediately.
Either way, it is time the Giles government showed some sincere community engagement and put this matter to rest by establishing a clear and irrefutable consensus.
Then, we can find something else to quarrel immaturely about.
Gus Elliott, Katherine
Bulk-bill must stay
KATHERINE residents concerned at the withdrawal of bulk-billing facilities at Gorge Health, as a result of Medicare subsidies not keeping up with inflation, will be hit heavily again after July 1 if the federal government passes legislation taking away the fee the government pays to pathology clinics.
It is estimated that private pathology in Australia in the future will cost citizens $150 per test, and some people require frequent pathology tests.
If the legislation is passed, it will certainly impact adversely on the Northern Territory's already-stretched hospital system.