McCrossan: Rhetoric wont build roads

SDLP West Tyrone representative Daniel McCrossan has said that vital roads infrastructure in the North West won’t be built on empty rhetoric or broken promises and that local people will not be taken in by the same stories ahead of an election.

Mr McCrossan said that SDLP representatives have continued to lobby for significant infrastructure upgrades, including the A5, throughout the past five years and will continue to do so in spite of those who have come late to the party to make shallow electoral promises with no funding proposals.

Mr McCrossan said: “Investment in infrastructure upgrades throughout the West is critical to redeveloping our regional economy; there are no two ways about it. That’s why SDLP representatives here have continued to lobby, especially for new roads infrastructure, over the last number of years. Ours has been a legitimate campaign over many years to create growth and put communities here on a sustainable economic footing.

“Local people know who has put in the hard yards and who is ramping up the rhetoric. The ‘announcement’ about the A5 smacks of the same empty promises that have been made since 2007 and before every election since then. The flagship project package doesn’t even contain a clear indication of where funding beyond this year will come from. It’s public policy on a wing and a prayer.

“The SDLP is committed to a serious regional economic strategy to redevelop the West. That includes infrastructure upgrades on the A5 and the A6 as well as skills expansion at our local universities and higher education institutions. We can only generate prosperity if we maintain a highly skilled workforce and increase accessibility to our towns and cities. That is a significant job of work and will be much more difficult than simply making empty promises. The SDLP is up for the challenge though and with the support of local people, we’ll continue to press for change.”