Businesses in Uist need access to Scottish Government compensation package to help them deal with the loss of trade over cancelled ferry services, Torcuil Crichton has said.
The Labour MP for Na h-Eileanan an Iar said South Uist has been given a raw deal
once again after CalMac announced that the regular ferry, MV Lord of the Isles, will
not be returning to the Lochboisdale route until mid-April.
Speaking in South Uist, where he met with business and community figures about the situation, Mr Crichton said confidence in the ferry service and CalMac had reached rock bottom.
As the Easter holidays approach the regular ferry to Lochboisdale will deployed elsewhere, again, to cover gaps in the CalMac schedule, leaving island businesses facing huge uncertainty over bookings.
Mr Crichton said: “I don’t envy CalMac, they have a hard job to do with an ageing fleet, and it is important to say that there will still be ferry services to Uist, people can come, albeit on a more limited service.
“But these repeated disruptions are having an effect, on community confidence and on the confidence of visitors thinking of coming to the islands. Tourism businesses are telling me they are facing cancellations and massive losses this year.
“Three things need to happen now. There needs to be a proper compensation scheme for island businesses, not just a rates rebate, that doesn’t touch the side of the losses, and that has to be for this year and coming seasons, measurable compensation for measurable loss until the situation is resolved.
The islands MP added: “I’d encourage Scottish Government ministers to come here, to listen to peoples’ concerns, as I have this weekend, and to attend a crisis meeting on the ferry service to Uist being convened next month.
“Ministers have deliver assurance on continued investment in Lochboisdale pier and a replacement ferry for the Lord of the Isles and they must listen to demands that we have made for a long time for proper island representation on the discredited quango boards of CalMac and Cmal.
“And I think senior Cal Mac officials have to come to that meeting too and explain why despite promises, when the ferry was taken away for six weeks two years ago, that South Uist is getting the raw end of the deal once again.”
Call for compensation for poor ferry service
30 March 2025
