MondMonday, 17 July 2006

MOKOAN – WETLANDS REHABILITATION – $24 MILLION COST BLOW OUT

The rehabilitation of Lake Mokoan into a wetlands tourist centre will cost $24 million according to Bracks Government appointed consultants.

This compares with the $1 million allocation in the original budget of $60 million for the decommissioning of Lake Mokoan and rehabilitation of the wetlands.

Nationals Member for Benalla, Bill Sykes, has been forecasting a significant cost blow out for many months – forecasts which up until now the Minister for Water has steadfastly rejected.

Dr Sykes said, “This $24 million cost blow out is the first in what will be a succession of cost blow outs which will put the cost of decommissioning Lake Mokoan well in excess of $100 million.”

This means that the cost benefit analysis of the whole decommissioning project needs to be revisited in light of the updated figures, particularly when the other side of the equation, the claimed water savings has become increasingly questionable. For example, the surface area of the wetlands will be over 1,000 hectares greater than the originally estimated wetlands, leading to significant increases in the water lost due to evaporation from the wetlands.

Dr Sykes continued, “Apparently only $2.5 million of the $24 million budget has been allocated to actual rehabilitation and maintenance with the rest being earmarked for tourism development etc.

“The Government anticipates 300,000 visitors to the new wetlands by 2020 – I say, unless a lot more money is committed to wetlands rehabilitation, no one will want to come and see a weed infested jungle in which feral cats and foxes roam, rampantly destroying endangered species such as the Latham Snipe”.

Dr Sykes concluded, “I call upon the Government to make public all of its revised costings on Lake Mokoan. I suspect that the Government cannot honour it’s commitments to maintain security of water supply to irrigators, deliver a world class wetland and ensure that Benalla and downstream residents are not flooded out within a budget of less than $100 million (if at all).

If this is the case, then I call on the Bracks Government to go back to the drawing board, and this time listen to the local people”.

Media contact: Bill Sykes (03) 5762 2100 or 0427 624 989