• OUTSOURCING to “strong and stable” companies like Carillion nearly hit us in Islington.

Like the government’s eye-watering billions thrown at the multinational, Islington Council had agreed to a 30-year, £4.7billion waste project.

Some readers might remember the Tribune coverage of the gigantic, PFI (private finance initiative) rubbish contract the seven-borough North London Waste Authority (NLWA) was eager to dish out.

Just five years ago, after two years of intense campaigning, we eventually stopped this madness, which would have wasted around £400million of Islington Council’s public money.

The NLWA dismissed the risk from the plummeting share price and profits warnings of its favoured multinational Veolia, just like Carillion.

The NLWA repeated the tired old arguments of much more efficiency and value for money. But my unpaid voluntary engineering and financial analysis showed that its incineration and recycling project would almost triple the costs for the same old trash-and-burn technology proposed by Veolia.

The NLWA continued spending tens of millions of Islington’s and the other six boroughs’ money, wasted on overpaid “expert” consultants and lawyers as councillors insisted “there is no alternative”.

It was so bamboozled with a total dedication to the multinational that it was even too scared to allow a solicitor to explain its legal obligation to consider the fact that Veolia was providing services to illegal Israeli settlements.

It’s the same old issues, whether it’s Veolia, Carillion or other PFI privateers – poor value for money, no due diligence, jobs for the boys and, worst of all, not bothered or caring about providing proper services.

When will they ever learn that it is better to rely on hard-working people with grounded common sense and experience rather than throwing money down the drain to pay the millions of “earnings” for incompetent, greedy directors?

ROB LANGLANDS
N1