Who Pays the Ferryman?

"Trying to make things work in government is sometimes like trying to sew a button on a custard pie." (Hyman Rickover)

What will the outcome be? How will the vote go? The American Election?

No, the convoluted and mind-boggling slow decision making on a vote by Jersey's Council of Ministers to select a Ferry Operator - and make it look as if the Chief Officer didn't blow gaff on the intended firm when he voted online (and engaged one company on social media). 

If they come in favour of the Danish firm, it looks as if this was their intention all along, and they are just seeking good excuses to hide that fact. If they come in favour of Brittany Ferries, it looks as if they have given way to Guernsey.

And now, at the eleventh hour, they are thinking they can have a different operator (if they can justify it), and from Davy Jones Locker, I can hear the rattle of chains of Channel Island Ferries which metaphorically sank, apparently without trace, as no one has apparently read what happened when there were two operators. 

Maybe Kirsten Morel should borrow a copy of "Ferries of the Channel Islands: Past & Present" before the ghost of ferries past catches up with him.

The murmurings (don't expect details from the good Deputy) about "legal implications" and "legal advice needed" maybe suggest that some non-contractual but verbal "nod" had been given to the Danish firm, which is worrying. We still don't know the cost of the docking trials yet, and probably never will. If the bid is approved, it will be "commercially sensitive", if it fails, it will be available in the published States accounts (buried there in grouped figures, no doubt).

As for asking for extra details at the 11th hour, they've had at least from September, probably longer, to glean the necessary information.

And finally, we were told on Friday that a decision would be made on Monday. But of course, with this shambles, no decision has yet been made. When in 1907, there was a run on banks in the USA, JP Morgan summoned all the bankers to his residence, locked the doors, and wouldn't let them out until they had found a solution. Alas, the Minister is no J.P. Morgan. 

Meanwhile, tourists, tour operators, food companies, are all stuck in limbo, and if tourism takes a dive next year, we can know who to blame - the Minister for Economic Indecision.