Ballymoney Councillor John Finlay has lobbied the Minister for
Enterprise, Trade and Investment on the economic needs of Ballymoney on a
visit she made to the area on Thursday.
Speaking after the Minister's visit Cllr Finlay said:
"I
thank the Minister for coming to visit Ballymoney last week. I feel
that she listened and learned from what was said. As Chairman of the
Development Committee I pushed her on the issue of jobs and investment
in the area. I am hopeful that the NI Executive will act and I encourage
them to do so because we are in a desperate need of assistance.
Ballymoney
has suffered terribly over the last few years. All major companies have
gone. In 2005 we had 200 job losses with closure of Fleming Poultry,
British Textiles and Ballymoney Foods. This was followed in 2006 and
2007 with two phases of job reductions TYCO, in late 2006 and 2007 when
the company closed. This with the closure of Reid Transport saw a loss
of 500 jobs. For us this is dire in terms of loss of jobs.
Most
of our food sector has been lost. There has been reductions, too, in
employment levels in many of our small and medium sized enterprises.
While
we are facing a downturn in the manufacturing and construction sector
the growth in the service sector and IT industry is not happening.
Average
earnings in the borough are well below the Northern Ireland Average.
This must be corrected and brought into line with the rest of our
Province.
We
also suffer from a "brain drain" in the area, with local people leaving
for other places for work. People from the area with skills,
knowledge and the qualifications have no opportunity for employment, as
high skilled jobs are not being attracted to the area.
More
and more people are having to travel to work. This brings added
pressure to already busy roads, such as A26 which serves the north
east.
We
look to our Assembly to take whatever measures they can to secure new
jobs. I want to see local jobs created for local people in the North
East area." Councillor Finlay added.
ENDS
6th August 2010
