Island residents band together on ferry demands

Residents of communities that depend on Newfoundland and Labrador's domestic ferry service are joining forces and demanding improvements in their transportation network.

"I've been at this for five years now, and all I've gotten is no, no, no," said Barbara Colbourne, a Long Island resident who attended a meeting Wednesday that for the first time brought together residents of islands that depend on the province's aging system of ferries.

Apart from the growing age of the fleet, residents have long complained about such things as inconsistent service and having to share ferry routes.

Colbourne, who has wanted the Newfoundland and Labrador government to build a causeway connecting Long Island, has been leading a group that also wants a direct ferry route to the island.

Right now, the Long Island-Pilley's Island ferry is shared with the run to Little Bay Islands.

"The feeling is now that our messages are not being heard, and it's more about trying to save money than it is about delivering the service," said Jim Forward, a Little Bay Islands resident who organized the meeting.

Forward said he believes there are common-sense solutions that will not strain the provincial budget.

"What we're looking for is a very service-oriented ethic to be developed within the marine transportation services division," he said.

"That's the same cry, really, that the province has put forth to Marine Atlantic," he said, referring to the federal Crown corporation that runs ferries connecting Nova Scotia with southern Newfoundland.

Forward said the provincial ferry service remains substandard.

"You have conditions whereby you have no decent ferry terminals even in many of our locations, no washrooms, no means of communicating with the ferries, no effective communication to know when schedules are changed and so on," he said.

The group is demanding the province re-establish the committee within 30 days.