Once again, I've been astonished by how the country has responded to the ongoing bad weather. Earlier in the year, the country came to a standstill because of the snow! Have we learned any lessons from then? Have we hell!!!
When the bad weather hits the affects are widespread, schools close, motorways seize to a halt, thousands are off work, there is a massive economic loss, to list a few. I ask,why? As a country that seems to be obsessed with the weather, we knew this was coming! For days before the bad weather arrived we received warning after warning - "wrap up warm," "turn up your heating," "we're in for some bad weather." What plans were being put in place when all this was going on, by the Scottish Government and Local Authorities? Well by the looks of it,none!
Of course I'm not blaming the Scottish Government for this weather, but I cannot understand why contingency plans aren't in place. Last night we were told on the news that Scottish Government Ministers were in an emergency meeting. A bit late if you ask me!
Countries across the world deal with this sort of weather all the time yet we never see such chaos. Of course they are used to it so it isn't an issue,but I think we could learn a few lessons here. Admittedly this weather isn't frequent but the fact remains that it does happen so lets do something about it.
Let's never again have people spending eight or nine hours in their cars on a journey that should take 20 minutes. And when our snow ploughs are snowed in, serious questions have to be asked!
Another area that really concerns me is the emergency services. Last night we heard how the army was doing the job of the ambulance service in North Lanarkshire. Seriously ill people waiting two/three hours for an ambulance is totally unacceptable. Thankfully the army were able to help but they shouldn't have to. It's not their job. Here's a suggestion, why doesn't the Government invest in 4x4 ambulance vehicles for such situations?
And if you needed another reason as to why this cannot happen again, here's one!
Experts are warning the big freeze could be costing the country up to £70 million a day and could plunge the ailing economy ever-closer to the dreaded double-dip recession. So all of the necessary cuts that our Govt is making, and the pain that we're all going to share in could be for nothing if the country continues to allow the snow to rule!
Lets avoid unneccessary deaths, suffering and most importantly more financial hardship. We need to get on top of this weather and ensure that we have plans in place if and when, we should need them!
No comments:
Post a Comment