Islanders are furious that a vital water scheme they had waited years for has been shelved at the last minute after the company found it would cost “significantly” more than it thought.
Western Isles MP Angus MacNeil is now calling for clarity from Scottish Water on the future of the major water mains upgrade project on the Isle of Harris.
Concerns have been raised with Mr MacNeil by representatives of the North Harris community that the plan for a new water mains pipe line between Tarbert and Hushinish has been halted suddenly.
Mr MacNeil said: “This vital project will not only resolve some of the issues with water supply between Tarbert and Hushinish which have been ongoing for many years, but will also allow other developments such as housing to go ahead where this has not previously been possible.
“Scottish Water was expected to begin work this week but out of the blue they have cancelled public engagement meetings and announced a review due to an increase in the cost of the work.
“I am in correspondence with Scottish Water to try and understand their point of view and am seeking detail on why the expected cost of the project has gone up so significantly and why it will take them six months to review this project.
A spokesperson for Scottish Water apologised for the inconvenience.
“We had originally intended to hold public events last week to inform residents in North Harris about work that was planned affecting their water supplies. This would have involved the replacement of four small water treatment works with a connection to the water network serving Tarbert,” he said.
“Due to a significant increase in the expected cost of the work, we are reviewing the options to continue providing a safe, reliable and affordable water supply for our customers in the area. The information events were therefore not able to go ahead and we will provide an update on our plans later in the year once the review is complete. We would like to apologise to customers for any inconvenience caused by the cancellation of the events.”