Advanced Traffic Management closure won’t delay Outer Ring Road development, but it will cost taxpayers

The construction along Bunbury’s Outer Ring Road Project is not likely to have major delays due to the sudden closure of Advanced Traffic Management and the sacking of hundreds of staff via text message on Wednesday. Workers at the site believed the ATM work would be reassigned to one of the multiple other businesses that are part of the South West Gateway Alliance, the group running the construction project. Even though the ATM depot in the Devonport industrial area had padlocked gates on Friday, one worked expected that in “two days time, it’ll all be back to normal”. The workers also believed colleagues who had been sacked by ATM would soon be back in employment, as they would be “surprised” if the other employers working on the project “didn’t pick them up”. Work along the Outer Ring Road appeared to be business as usual over the weekend, with multiple other roadworks and construction companies spotted picking up the work left by ATM as well as their own contracted work. The situation mirrors comments made by the Minister for Transport Rita Saffioti, who put out a statement quickly after hearing about the contractor going into liquidation. “Advanced Traffic Management is one of a number of contractors engaged on Main Road’s projects within the metropolitan and regional areas,” she said. “Main Road’s has a number of other panel contract companies it can call on for traffic management services, so doesn’t expect any impact or delays to projects.” Even though the fallout from the liquidation will have predicted minor effects on the construction work itself, taxpayers may be the ones copping the brunt of it, having to pay the debt now owed to the Federal tax collector, according to hired accountants. Liquidators of the company have claimed in various Federal findings that ATM owes $7.17 million to its sister firm RevenueWA. These liquidators have put a zero recoverable value on the alleged $7.17m debt, meaning taxpayers may have to fork out $7.14m as the Federal tax collector claims to be owned that sum from the now broke ATM.