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View Full Version : Fit's in 'e Coorier 'e day



Nwicker60
05-Dec-12, 10:32
Caithness Courier: December 5, 2012

THIRTY-FIVE new jobs are coming on stream at Dounreay to help speed up the work to decommission the former fast reactor complex. Dounreay site licence company, DSLR, has begun the process to hire the staff to start work next month to help meet its deadline of having the cluster of former fuel and waste plants levelled by September 2023. The new labour is needed to service extra work over the next 12 months and complete it within the designated timescale. It is believed more contract jobs are likely to be created in the course of 2013.

PANDEMONIUM hit the roads over the weekend in Caithness, as 11 cars slid off the county’s highways. Northern constabulary said the wintry weather had brought an unprecedented hike in the number of road traffic collisions, as sleet and hailstones froze on routes around the region. Sgt. Brian Hamilton said it was a busy weekend for the force but luckily only two of the 11 accidents resulted in any injuries – with none reported as serious.

A WORRIED Wick councillor has questioned why more firefighters in Caithness have not undertaken a key training course, as it emerged the county has the worst completion rates in the Highlands. An update on the Safer Firefighter Programme was given to Highland councillors, including Gail Ross, who were told the region’s fire brigade had run 35 breathing apparatus (BA) course which had been attended by 339 staff up to the end of last month.

THREE Highland councillors have called for an end to closed-door meetings which involve dispersing public money and discussing council issues of relevance to the far north, with one dubbing the practice “an embarrassment”. Independents Donnie Mackay, Willie Mackay and John Rosie, are calling for change in policy which would allow people to attend joint Caithness ward business meetings. Their view comes after the Caithness Courier was denied the opportunity to report on the latest of the fortnightly meetings in Wick Town Hall, on Monday morning.

OUTSPOKEN union chief Bob Crow has vowed to back far north ferry staff, planning strike action against compulsory jobs cuts. Affect National Union of Rail Maritime and Transport Workers employees voted to protest over Serco NorthLink’s decision to axe up to 36 jobs on the Orkney and Shetland ferries on Monday. The ferry operator, which took on the Aberdeen, Shetland and Orkney routes, has been consulting with with seafaring staff and unions about the jobs cuts.

THE next 12 months will be crucial in helping to promote Caithness as a viable location to help grow the renewable energy sector. That was the message from Audrey MacIver, head of energy supply chain and developer engagement at Highlands and Islands Enterprise, who said the marketing of the area is its number one priority to secure the benefits of wind and marine tidal development. She spoke during the Pentland Firth and Orkney Waters Leadership Forum’s wave and tidal energy information day in Thurso last Wednesday.

A NEW non-emergency phone number for the police in the Highlands is on the cards and it could spell an end to the public dialling their local station. Anybody seeking the police will have to dial 101 from early next year, if they want to report minor incidents, instead of picking up the phone and ringing their nearest station directly. Northern Constabulary believes the change will help it meet national target for answering phone calls.