STOP THE POLITICAL GAMES: Lisa Scomazzon backs urgent calls to fix Cape Trib Road, calls for transparency from DSC

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DSC Deputy Mayor Lisa Scomazzon is furious Council hasn't engaged the State Government to fix Cape Tribulation Road more quickly. Picture: Supplied

COMMENT - Lisa Scomazzon

Thank you Newsport for bringing last week's story about Cape Tribulation Road and the State Government being ready to provide more resources, but as yet, not being asked by Douglas Shire Council to do so.

See the story here: https://www.newsport.com.au/articles-archive/2024/february/playing-politics-extra-state-assistance-extraordinarily-snubbed-as-dsc-cites-safety-drags-heels-in-critical-cape-tribulation-road-repairs

The Mayor campaigned on numerous different policy platforms and one was “towards a transparent and consultative Council”.

It states “it is imperative that Council is transparent in both its day-to-day business dealings when dealing with issues that directly involve community members. Deceit or fraud can thrive when decisions are not open to scrutiny and when the details of spending, contracts and service provisions are hidden”.

Can you imagine not being able to send your children to school, having near zero income from your business because customers physically cannot access it, not being able to go to work to provide for your family, visit the Doctor, or even enjoy an evening out in Port Douglas or Mossman as a result of a major natural disaster that happened in December last year.

There are people in our Shire who cannot do any of these things without fearing they may not be able to access their homes for an unknown period of time because the road to Cape Tribulation is so unstable it closes without warning as a result of continuing landslides and weather. Their tourism based businesses are effectively shut down as Cape Tribulation is closed to tourists.

There is no ‘back way’ like people used when the Captain Cook Highway linking us to Cairns was blocked due to similar issues, there is no Rex Range alternative. They are trapped when the road is closed. They have been trapped for over 70 days.

Some may say those people haven chosen to live in an isolated part of the Shire. That is true. As it happens, this part of the Shire is one of two major reasons tourists chose to visit the area.

Cape Tribulation is where the ‘Daintree Rainforest’ meets the ‘Great Barrier Reef’. No access to the area for tourists may mean tourists and tour companies may choose to go elsewhere, impacting the entire Shire significantly.

Fixing the road to Cape Tribulation is a massive under taking. Like many people in the Shire, I hoped the State government would be engaged to help repair the roads. In fact, in my role as a councillor advocating for the community, I was told by the Mayor and the CEO explicitly that TMR was on site and working on fixing the road.

I assumed the CEO and the Mayor would be working together and taking advantage of every possible resource available to fix the road as soon as humanly possible. It turns out I was mistaken.

I have asked 'do we have the right crews for the job' and was told 'yes'. 'Can we extend the hours that crews are working so they can work 7 days' was told 'no'. 'Can we have other companies who can assist with the repairs' and was told 'no'.

I was astounded to hear an interview on ABC Radio last week with Nikki Boyd, Queensland Minister for Disaster Recovery who said: “I’m encouraging Douglas Shire Council to actually take a sledgehammer to crack the nut of the road repair there in Cape Tribulation. We stand ready to support Douglas Shire Council, but we need them to make those requests”.

“We are more than happy to support additional requests for assistance from Douglas Shire Council to get that road repaired even sooner for that community because it is a critical lifeline for them, what I’m saying is that we’re happy to do more.

“If they want a RoadTek crew to go in there and fix it, absolutely we can do that."

I have spoken with the Minister today and was assured that correspondence has been sent to the Mayor and the assistance is there available to take up. So why has the Mayor and CEO not informed Councillors or the Douglas Shire community?

This assistance will be paid by the Disaster Assistance Arrangements. This means it would cost ratepayers nothing. Minister Boyd sounded more than willing to help fix this massive problem.

After listening to this radio interview it is quite clear to me that this has become very political between the State Government and the Mayor. It's obvious through the interview the Mayor wants the State Government to take over the road as their own. Lets just fix the roads and then discuss who is in the best position to own the road.

Why would the Mayor not take the assistance from the State Government to assist in rebuilding the road network on Noah's Range and the Alexandra Range? This needs to be answered by the Mayor to the community and be transparent in producing the correspondence received by Nikki Boyd MP.

The entire process of re-opening Cape Tribulation Road access has not been transparent for myself, the other Councillors, or the community.

The political games have got to stop. This Shire needs all the help from the State and Federal Government to repair and rebuild this community. Why would this Mayor or anyone want to play these politics games with peoples lives and businesses.

The residence and businesses of Cape Tribulation deserve a written explanation on why the State Government's offers are not being acted immediatley on by this Mayor.

I would like to see an full independent review on why the repairs have taken so long and what can be done better for the future.

It is very little to ask but the residents of Cape Tribulation want to get back to running their businesses and living their lives with some certainty like the rest of us.

Lisa Scomazzon
Deputy Mayor
Douglas Shire Council

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