Bid for additional Manx ferry terminal contingency funding on hold

Members will now be asked to approve the additional contingency funding in November

A bid to allocate an additional £10m in contingency funding to help pay for the Manx government's new ferry terminal in Liverpool has been put on hold.

Treasury Minister Alex Allinson had asked politicians to support the move at the July sitting of Tynwald.

However, Juan Watterson SHK successfully called for the debate to be adjourned until November.

He told members a scrutiny committee report on the project would then be available.

Tynwald members have already approved £70m for the project, which has been beset by delays and cost increases since work began in 2019.

'Sensible measure'

It was revealed in December 2021 that the original £38m budget for the new terminal at the Princes Half Tide Dock had doubled due to the impact of the coronavirus pandemic and unexpected issues with the site.

Supporting the bid to delay voting on making additional funding available, Chief Minister Alfred Cannan said it was an "entirely sensible measure".

He told Tynwald the estimated completion date for the linkspan was October, and he hoped the terminal would be fully open and operational next summer.

The four-month adjournment would "allow for a more informed debate to take place and more explanations to be provided publicly in terms of the reasons for the overspend", he said.

Mr Watterson said the Public Accounts Committee report would answer a lot of questions about the early days of the scheme, which "set the path for this project and why some of the things that have happened".

The debate could then take place "with the advantages of the report and the thousands of pages of evidence" involved, he said.