Na h-Eileanan an Iar SNP MSP Alasdair Allan has commented on the news that BiFab, operator of the Arnish fabrication yard on the Isle of Lewis, has today entered administration.
BiFab had been put into difficulty in recent months after missing out on a contract to manufacture jackets for the Seagreen offshore wind farm in September, and having an existing bid to manufacture jackets for the Neart na Gaoithe offshore wind farm project collapse.
The islands MSP raised the issues at Arnish and BiFab in a speech to the Scottish Parliament last night.
Alasdair Allan MSP commented:
“It is frustrating to see BiFab again fall into administration.
“The promise of inward investment and contracts when BiFab was taken over has been followed by a lack of corporate investment. It is ultimately the responsibility of JV Driver, as the majority shareholder, to provide that investment.
“There is no legal route for the Scottish Government or the UK Government to provide further financial support to BiFab in the absence of a shareholder guarantee and investment from the majority shareholder.
“The focus now has to be on securing a future for the yard. I will be pressing the Scottish Government, as I did yesterday in Parliament, to ensure all options are kept open so that Arnish can be the integral part of our green recovery that it deserves to be.”