McKenzie 'To Resign' As Murphy Stays Put

As Belfast City Council continued to make small quantities of bottled water available to residents who may still not have been reconnected to their mains supply, speculation mounted over the future of the NI Water boss today - as calls continued for the resignation of the Stormont Minister himself.

Sinn Fein will oppose any 'golden handshake' with MLA Caral NíChuilin saying there should be "no question" of a pay-off being given to NI Water (NIW) Chief Executive Lawrence McKenzie if he resigns - as expected - from his position.

"The way I see this situation is very clear. Mr McKenzie is responsible for the operations of NIW, operations that failed to deal with the recent thaw. His company fell well below the standards expected by the public.

"There will in the coming days be an inquiry launched into the NIW response to the recent crisis. If Mr McKenzie decides to resign in advance of that inquiry investigating and reporting then the Board of NIW should accept his resignation and move ahead.

"There should be no negotiation and no question of a pay off from the public purse."

The politician was in broad agreement with Ulster Unionist Fred Cobain, who chairs the Stormont Committee on the Department of Regional Development (DRD) on the matter of a costly pay-off - as he had earlier told BBC Radio Ulster that he also opposed such a development - but is less likely to agree on the future of the Minister responsible for NI Water, Sinn Fein's Conor Murphy.

While Mr MacKenzie, along with other senior managers, is due to appear before the Stormont committee on Thursday, it was Conor Murphy's position that most energised the UUP politician on Wednesday morning's Good Morning Ulster.

Mr Cobain spoke out and backed his party Leader Tom Elliott in his call for DRD Minister Conor Murphy to resign after Mr Elliot said that if the Minister won't do the right thing himself, he "should be removed by the Sinn Fein Leadership".

"Quite simply, there must be political accountability for the water crisis. No one should be shielded or protected because of their political party or their position in the Executive. The Minister for Regional Development must shoulder responsibly rather than try to pass the buck.

"If Conor Murphy is not prepared to do the right thing, then Gerry Adams and Martin McGuinness must take steps to remove him," said Mr Elliot yesterday after tens of thousands of households were affected over the Christmas holidays. Extreme cold weather followed by a significant rise in temperatures caused unprecedented numbers of burst pipes.

At its peak more than 40,000 properties were affected and NIW was widely criticised by customers over its response.

(BMcC/GK)