ANSWERS as to why the £300m SeaDragon oil rig project was lost from the region – and with it 1,000 potential jobs – have still not been given despite increased pressure on both the Government and Lloyds Banking Group to provide explanations.
It is now six months since SeaDragon, the biggest nonmilitary fabrication project in the UK for more than a generation, was moved from the North-East to the Far East after the contract to build it on Teesside was abruptly terminated.
And last night, renewed backing was given to The Northern Echo’s calls for the two parties seen to be culpable for the loss of the contract – and for the loss of the 200 jobs that were already created – to be accountable for their roles.
Since the bombshell announcement in January, it emerged that part-nationalised Lloyds Banking Group, as the project’s financier, deemed that the rig’s construction by the Tees Alliance Group (TAG) was “too risky,”
despite The Northern Echo revealing that to build it in the Far East could cost at least £110m more than at Haverton Hill shipyard.
Work was already more than a quarter complete when the contract was pulled.
Despite Lloyds Banking Group being 43 per cent owned by the taxpayer, criticism has mounted on the Department for Business, Enterprise and Regulatory Reform (BERR) for failing to intervene to ensure such a vital project, both economically and in terms of employment, remained in the UK.
Greg Clark, Shadow Minister for Teesside, is keen to end the “silent treatment” over the issue, and wrote to Secretary of State for Business, Innovation and Skills Lord Mandelson in early April asking for a face-to-face meeting to discuss the SeaDragon saga.
Now, more than two months later, he has yet to hear from Lord Mandelson as to when this meeting will be taking place.
Mr Clark said: “BERR exists to help the sponsorship of industry and to create jobs to help British business prosper.
“Given that role, there are questions that need to be answered over the SeaDragon project.
“It is totally unacceptable that they should refuse to do that.
“The involvement of the bank adds a whole extra dimension, and something else which we need answers to.”
The Northern Echo also asked Sir Victor Blank, chairman of Lloyds Banking Group, at the company’s AGM to explain why funding for the project had been pulled, but he deflected responsibility onto the commissioning company, Cayman Islands-based SeaDragon.
SeaDragon has always maintained the rig was moved to Jurong, off Singapore, on Lloyds Banking Group’s recommendation.
Last night, calls were again issued for BERR and Lloyds Banking Group to explain themselves.
Mark Wallace, campaigns manager for the Taxpayers’ Alliance, said: “This has gone on for long enough.
“Given the huge amounts of taxpayers’ money put into Lloyds Banking Group, which the Government decided to do without consulting us, it is quite shocking they do not seem willing to talk to the public.
“There should be an obligation for both of them to listen to the public, and not to keep on giving us the silent treatment.”
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