UUP MLA raises concerns over Government plans for Port of Belfast
North Down MLA and UUP Regional Development spokesperson Leslie Cree has voiced concerns regarding a recent Government consultation document which reveals that the Port of Belfast could be broken up and stripped of its assets for the benefit of speculators.
Mr Cree’s comments are part of a tide of criticism against the proposals, which would undermine the port’s £140m capital investment programme, and includes progress on the Titanic Quarter.
Mr Cree said:
“The Port is an economic winner – handling 17m tones of goods in 2005, 66% of Northern Ireland’s seaborne trade and is the busiest passenger port on the island of Ireland. To dismember and sell off parts of one of our most important assets is sheer foolishness and shows total disregard to the future of our infrastructure.
“It is vital that the Port of Belfast remains under public ownership and works in the best interest of Northern Ireland and its people. Its sale to private businesses at a time when we are in the midst of a £140 million investment programme would undermine the progress already made and fragment the estate unnecessarily”.