Ford annoyed at failure to appoint NI Sustainable Commissioner

9.21.00am GMT Fri 7th Aug 2009

Alliance Leader David Ford has berated the Office of the First and deputy First Minister for the failure to appoint a Northern Ireland representative to the UK Sustainable Development Commission. Almost a year and a half has passed since Northern Ireland has had representation on the Commission and David Ford said this sends out a very negative message about our attitude to environmental protection.

David Ford said: "It beggars belief that for almost a year and a half Northern Ireland has had no representation on the UK Sustainable Development Commission. Why is it taking OFMDFM so long to appoint someone to this extremely important body?

"If we have no representation, how can we ever drive the green agenda and make Northern Ireland a leader in this sector? Given the message sent out by Sammy Wilson during his time as Environment Minister, it's essential that urgent action is taken to show that we are serious about sustainability.

"This failure to appoint a new representative reflects extremely badly on OFMDFM. The green economy holds massive potential and can help us address the economic downturn which has hurt this region so much. Alliance has launched proposals for a sustainable economic recovery and we will continue to apply pressure on the Stormont Executive to implement a radical strategy of this nature. People want leadership on tackling these tough economic times - we are providing this but the Executive appears not be.

"Without a voice on the Commission we are losing out and this situation cannot continue. OFMDFM should be ashamed that it's taking so long to provide Northern Ireland with representation on the group."