Turcot becomes target of construction mess
Once the Turcot rebuild is open for business, the possibility of rampaging construction corruption clustering around the project is beginning to frighten some. Why Quebec has a love-hate thing with public-private projects begins to come into focus.
Ian 19:06 on 2010/11/28 Permalink
In the pocket or not, the fact of the matter is that almost all the construction that took place under Drapeau is falling apart because of poor standards, which speaks more to corruption at the inspector level than contract-awarding level, IMO. I’m sure there was payoff at all levels, but the utter crap Montreal building projects are everywhere… consider, though, that Toronto’s Gardiner expressway was built at the same time, out of hypothetically similar materials, and it’s not falling down. I think maybe the biggest problem is that the crooks here are TOO crooked; not satisfied with inflating a bill, they cut corners on the work and materials, too. I’m not alarmed that there’s a corruption scandal in construction; I’m alarmed it’s taken nearly 40 years for anyone to give a crap.
JaneyB 12:06 on 2010/11/29 Permalink
I agree with Ian – I really, really think we need inspectors from out-of-province/out-of-country. Kind of the way foreign organizations observe the elections process in countries with a history of corruption. The ‘Fabulous Fourteen’, the falling concrete slab on Peel Street, ditto with the glass on the Bibliotheque National, Complexe Desjardins, the redone streets that fall apart within a year etc etc. If that isn’t an inspection problem, I don’t know what is. Other jurisdictions in North America do not have these issues!