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, WALES
Page 15
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Distrust and disbelief are the • hallmarks of Welsh hauliers' response to the help available to them from the Road Haulage Modernisation Fund.
The Welsh are even less aware of the fund than their colleagues In England and Scotland, with only 10% of those we asked having heard of the fund at all. Of those that had heard of the fund, none had applied for any of the schemes.
However, the Welsh have more reason than the English not to have heard of the scheme, as it has been slower to get underway In Wales. An initial Illm has been allocated to the fund for 2003/2004 but the project will not be launched until this summer. A spokesman for the Welsh Assembly said that it was probable that the fund would be extended to cover 2004/2005 as well.
But the most noticeable reaction from Welsh hauliers was that, even when the scheme was outlined to them, they simply did not trust government to Ore them what it appeared to be promising, The reaction of Philip Knight, a partner in Ammanford Transport Services, Ammanford, was typical "Anything I hear from the government Is just a gimmick. It never keeps its promises. We just keep our head down and do our own thing," he says.
Even those who admitted they would like to see more details of the scheme to assess whether it could benefit them remained largely sceptical. Sue Budd, company secretary for scrap haulier BM Budd in Cardiff, said: "It would be a good idea If this was given more publicity—maybe through the RHA and in Commercial Motor—but all we find is that the government takes from us rather than gives us anything.
"You get a bit weary because every government measure appears to cast us, rather than save us, money."
And Malciwyn Davies, owner of Maldwyn Davies Haulage of Aberdare, said he was not surprised that so few hauliers had even heard of the fund.
"Ifs like everything else: only the select few will really benefit," he says.
• Contact: Andrew Hemmings or Chris Swidenbank, Welsh Assembly, on 02920 826516.