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Order/Chaos/Farce [ Back to Trust in Governance ]The unprecedented scale and scope of the crisis, coupled with the delay in initial response, meant that at times, implementation of disease control oscillated between order and chaos: It just felt like it was a shambles to be honest that is what it felt like to me [. . .] It was all reaction to what was happening. There didn"t seem to be any plan as to how to get on top of the problem. (Front line worker, interview, 2002)
There just wasn"t the organisation. Yes the sheer volume. MAFF got terribly behind at the start. (Agricultural related, interview, 2002)
As the crisis took hold, central agencies seemed overwhelmed and operations became farcical: The week we lost all our animals to foot & mouth was the longest week ever. On the fourth day they came for some […]. The driver they sent hadn’t been on a machine like that for 9 yr. He didn’t come back. The next day they didn’t come until late afternoon. There was no driver for the telescope handler. [..]. We didn’t see anyone for 2 days. I kept phoning to see what was happening. They kept saying there was no lorries. The army liaison officer kept coming out to see us. We were bothered about our next door neighbour, because they could see the cows beside the wall, they looked out onto them. The wall was cracking with the weight of the cows. On the 7th day they came. (Farm, diary, 2002)
Local front line workers, often known and trusted by the farming household, could create order out of chaos: Initially it was just chaotic. I mean luckily where I was working the contractors were local and some I knew and they were very good and they knew the farmer as well so there was no problem whatsoever, they tried to help them as much as possible. (Front line worker, interview, 2002) [ Back to Trust in Governance ]
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