By Bill Heaney
Scottish Liberal Democrat leader Alex Cole-Hamilton has today demanded to know why Scottish Water bosses are receiving bonuses of up to £92,000 each at the same time as the government-owned company released raw sewage into Scotland’s rivers over 10,000 times.
It comes after Alex Cole-Hamilton, pictured right, this week challenged the First Minister on why the routine dumping of untreated human waste into our rivers was described as “vital” by the SNP/Green Coalition.
The bonus bill for just three Scottish Water executives totalled £227,000 in 2021. The Chief Executive received an astonishing £92,000 bonus on top of a £267,000 salary.
In the same year, sewage was released into Scotland’s rivers at least 30 times a day with the true figure likely to be much higher because monitoring is rare.
Alex Cole-Hamilton commented: “The release of untreated human waste into our rivers shouldn’t be allowed to happen. We’re talking about excrement, wet wipes and sanitary towels being pumped into the heart of our communities.
“People will want to know why top execs are being rewarded with enormous bonuses of up to £92,000 when raw sewage is being dumped at least 30 times a day. We need the Government to take action to prevent this from happening but neither Scottish Water or the Scottish Government show any sign of changing their ways.
“Instead of ministers describing discharges as ‘vital’, it is time the SNP/Green Coalition sent the message that nobody should get away with systematically pumping raw sewage into our rivers – let alone a government-owned company.”