Migrant housing plan blasted after ‘dodgy internet connection’ causes delay - ‘When will this end!?’
The RAF Wethersfield base is set to house more migrants
PA
Delays to plans to move more migrants into a former RAF base in Essex have been slammed by a former Labour MP.
Stephen Pound has taken issue with issues around water supplies and internet connections proving to be a stumbling block in the plan.
More migrants were due to move to the site on Wethersfield on Tuesday but the plan was delayed as a result of infrastructure upgrades.
According to The Times, a new water pipe had to be installed to meet the Health Security Agency’s requirements for regular water tests.
Speaking on GB News, Pound questioned “what planet am I living on?” after hearing of the latest revelations.
“I mean for heaven sake, we’re talking about people who are supposed to be in the throes of utter desperation, and they’re going to come and say, ‘I will not be seeking asylum in England because there isn’t decent internet connection or water supply’,” he said.
“Where is it going to end? The Bibby Stockholm is now a fire ask apparently, just dunk it, that’s your answer.
“Where are we going with this? For heaven sake. Tents are a decent enough option.”
Water tests were required in order to monitor disease outbreaks, with several of the first 46 migrants moving to the base developing scabies and tuberculosis.
Clearsprings Ready Homes, the private company that has been enlisted to run it, had to buy a new water tank.
Stephen Pound has questioned yet another migrant housing delay
GB NEWS
A problem with the broadband at the site also resulted in problems with medical screenings, as internet connection is required to log the medical data, sources have claimed.
A Home Office spokesman told The Times: “Delivering accommodation on surplus military sites and vessels will provide cheaper and more orderly, suitable accommodation for those arriving in small boats.
“Wethersfield adheres to all health and safety standards. We continue to work with stakeholders on a carefully structured plan to increase the number of asylum seekers on site in a phased approach.”
Asylum seekers are set to be housed on the Bibby Stockholm barge in the “coming weeks”, according to the Deputy Prime Minister.
Oliver Dowden spoke out after delays to the process, which came about from the Fire Brigades Union (FBU) raising particular concerns about the plans to initially accommodate about 500 people on the barge.
Dowden told the BBC: “We have to undertake a number of inspections and other measures to make sure that these vessels, and this vessel in particular, is suitable and ready.
“We are confident that we will be able to address all of these concerns, I’m absolutely certain of that, and I’m absolutely certain we will be able to get people on this vessel in the coming weeks.”
Cabinet minister Grant Shapps has insisted the vessel “certainly won’t be a deathtrap” after the FBU’s warning.
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