No name

WHILST applauding narrowboatworld editor, Tom Crossley, for publishing the Canal & River Trust (CaRT) rebuttal of the article 'Saying sorry is not enough', I wonder if readers have spotted the two differences between CaRT's response and its other narrowboatworld articles, asks Allan Richards.

The first difference is the lack of a name to the article. The second, perhaps less noticeable difference, is the amount of time between the article and CaRT's response.

Author?

Let's deal with the ‘no name' issue first. Historically, narrowboatworld, has published articles from CaRT (and BW) senior managers, executives and board members always giving the name of the author. However, this time around, in (CaRT gives its ‘enforcement' position) it seems that nobody in CaRT has the guts to put their name to the article!

Why? Could it be that the unknown senior manager, executive or board member wishes to hide the fact that a terminally ill boater has made a complaint against the Trust in May this year with the Trust delaying and failing to inform of its complaints procedure which might have afforded closure?

Two weeks

.... and then we have the two weeks between the narrowboatworld article and the anonymous CaRT response. Normally, if CaRT responds to an article in narrowboatworld, then it responds within 48 hours rather than wait a couple of weeks!

Whilst many may believe that CaRT's ‘unnamed' response came from chief executive, Richard Parry, who has taken over ‘enforcement', the alternative is that the response came from Simon Salem who no longer has responsibility. Perhaps he had his nose put out of joint by a narrowboatworld article two days ago (Allan meets a chugger).

Quite simple

It is quite simple. Four people have made five complaints about the actions of a CaRT enforcement officer.

Will the CaRT trustee, executive, or senior manager responsible for the narrowboatworld article name themselves and take responsibility for saying ‘The accusations of harassment against Stuart Garner are completely unjustified' in the knowledge that a complaint from a terminally ill boater is still under investigation?

I think not!

Addendum

We have received similar complaints from readers, with the one from regular contributor Martin Brooks rather summing them up:

'It looks as if the Chronically Undermaintained Navigation Trust are going to support their tame bully boy, one Mr Garner, without even investigating the allegations made against him.

What a surprise!'