MPs sledge State Government over Proserpine Main Roads building
A SPOKESPERSON for the owners of the building occupied by the Department of Transport and Main Roads on Proserpine's Main St said everything possible was being done to get the building repaired.
Marlene Malone made comment on behalf of the building's owners after Member for Whitsunday Jason Costigan again lashed out at the State Labor Government for not making the repair of the building a priority.
In May Mr Costigan expressed his frustration at the office remaining closed since Tropical Cyclone Debbie crossed the coast on March 28 and accused the Queensland Government of dragging the chain on the rebuild.
On Tuesday he was on the ground inspecting the boarded-up and roofless building with LNP Shadow Minister for Public Works Stephen Bennett.
Mr Costigan said there didn't seem to be any urgency in getting the TMR office back up and running in Proserpine and criticised the placement of the mobile licensing office set up at the railway station.
"What are they doing, waiting for people to get off the passenger train to Cairns for licensing renewal?” he asked.
Ms Malone, however, said everything was being done to get the building fixed and TMR was regularly updated on the progress of their insurance claim.
"We have jumped through every hoop possible, there is a process you have go through,” she said.
"We are filling them (TMR) in as much as we know. It's a very slow process and there is not much we can do.”
A TMR spokesperson confirmed they did not own the building on Main St.
"But we're currently in negotiations with the owner to ascertain their intentions with the building. Until their intentions are known the property will remain closed,” the spokesperson said.
But Mr Bennett added to Mr Costigan's belief the State Government was not doing enough.
"Government has an intrinsic role to work with the community. If this is your CBD hub they should be taking a temporary lease on something,” he said.
Mr Bennett said he understood the building's owners were dealing with insurance companies and could not lease the shop-front back to TMR until repairs were complete.
"At the end of the day the people of Proserpine need these key services,” he said.
Mr Costigan said he was "not holding his breath” about a solution to a problem he thought was inconveniencing the people of Proserpine.
"Otherwise I would end up in the hypobaric chamber of the Townsville Hospital,” he said.
"At the end of the day, what about the customers and what about the people?”
TMR responded by stating: "Placing the mobile customer service centre at the railway station allows easy access and plenty of parking for our customers at a location only about 500m from our damaged building.”
A second TMR office in the Whitsundays is available for road users in Cannonvale.