When I penned my thoughts on the stimulus package last year I had this to say:
Stories are also beginning to emerge of micro-wastage. Over-charging by contractors will haunt these projects for so time.
A plumber friend of mine has recently tendered for a number of jobs created via the government school hall scheme. Despite having quoted 3 times his normal price he has won 85 percent of the tenders. However, in each of these tenders he has not included the cost of plumbing required to get to the actual hall. So once his job is complete no water will be able to travel to or from the building unless they engage him to do more work. He believes this will add an additional cost of 100 %.
If all the money is being spent on the halls themselves it is an open question as to who will pay for the water to be actually connected. No doubt, the Commonwealth will try to shift the cost onto the States or even the local school communities. A lot of lamington drives and school fetes are going to be needed to tidy up this mess.
It just gets worse. The pure incompetence and bungling of the package has caused, at least, four deaths and several house-fires. It now threatens the lives of many more people.
ENVIRONMENT Minister Peter Garrett is under pressure to offer free safety checks for 37,000 houses with potentially deadly foil insulation installed under the government’s stimulus package, after he suspended the program today in the wake of four deaths.
And the Rudd government has ordered a second inquiry into a troubled program which offers cheap loans of up to $10,000 to “green” homes, conceding it is not working properly
On Monday, The Australian revealed an audit of almost 1000 homes in Queensland has found that in about 2 per cent of cases, foil insulation was installed inappropriately, causing the roof to become “live”.
This means that if home owners enter their roof space and touch the insulation, they could be shocked or electrocuted.
If the foil touches metal frames or pipes, it could cause other parts of houses, including taps, to become electrified.
The Rudd government came under pressure in question time today over the insulation scheme which unions warn risk turning hundreds of homes into death traps.
Update: All homes with foil insulation to be inspected. Hotline number 131 792 starting Thursday morning.
