GUYSBOROUGH — The Municipality of the District of Guysborough (MODG) will press the Department of Public Works for a solution to an acute driver shortage that continues to leave some roads under-serviced during winter storms.
The issue arose during council’s Feb. 19 meeting when, during his presentation on public service gaps in the municipality, Whitehead resident Art Jardine said, “I can tell you, living in Whitehead, I don’t get the same level of service as somebody living here in Guysborough does. If I drive from Whitehead ... it’s atrocious. I know when I’m getting closer to Guysborough because the roads are taken care of better.”
Jardine acknowledged that road maintenance, including snow removal, is a provincial responsibility but said, “I’m just asking you guys, the council, to be aware of it and look into it for us. As councillors, you are elected by the people and you represent us. You should make sure that the people in New Harbour and the people in Canso are getting the same level of service as people here in Guysborough.”
Warden Paul Long, who represents District 1, which includes the shiretown of Guysborough, noted that the department “is down eight [snow removal] drivers right now. It’s an unfortunate thing for everybody, but that’s where we’re at, and it’s out of our control.”
District 6 Councillor Susan Cashin agreed that while “it’s not our responsibility ... for transportation ... they are down eight drivers. What’s going on there? Is there some way to get the supervisors to come in [to speak with council]? I mean, that’s eight employees that we don’t have in our county.”
Long said money seems to be at the heart of the problem. “From what I’ve been told from people at the transportation department, if they were able to offer their workers more, they would have more workers. The bottom line is they [drivers] are not paid enough.”
Council agreed to put the staffing shortage on the agenda for the next available meeting with Public Works officials.
