There will be considerable alarm over the
revelation that the bill for the policing
operation surrounding the removal of two
dangerous loyalist bonfires in east Belfast last
July amounted to almost £200,000.
This figure does not include the substantial fee
paid to private contractors for actually
dismantling the large illegal structures at
Bloomfield Walkway and Cluan Place, which as we
reported yesterday has not been disclosed by the public bodies concerned.
There can be no justification for passing on such
enormous and entirely avoidable costs to
long-suffering tax-payers from all sections of society.
From next summer, the onus must be on
politicians and community representatives to
ensure that the sensible guidelines covering the
construction of bonfires in densely populated urban areas are fully observed.
