The Chamber of Commerce is calling for major reform of the Department of Infrastructure.

The business leaders' comments come a day after the department's minister, Chris Thomas MHK, was sacked by Chief Minister Alfred Cannan.

Chief Minister Alfred Cannan told today's Isle of Man Examiner: 'I hope to inject a sense of urgency in some of the reforms that have already been indicated.

'I will be working closely with my colleagues in the Council of Ministers and Tynwald to identify how the functions of the department could garner more effective oversight,'

This afternoon, the Chamber of Commerce issued a statement about the department.

It reads:

The DoI needs a complete overhaul and, most importantly, a change in the culture and mindset within the department.

The purpose of the DoI should be to provide the island’s long-term infrastructure needs to meet the demands of the general public, businesses, and visitors – and in doing so support our quality of life and growth of the economy.

A number of major concerns about the DoI have been raised in recent years.

It’s clear that there was a failure by previous administrations to plan effectively for the future, so instead of the department keeps on being dragged back by the legacy of that failure.

Ultimately, for the department to fulfil its remit it needs to deliver on the island’s long-term infrastructure needs, and deliver projects on time and within agreed budgets.

This is clearly not happening right now. We would like to see a major overhaul of the department and a change in attitude so that there is greater involvement from, and collaboration with, all stakeholders who depend on DoI.

Chamber would be happy to contribute this type of input from our wide range of knowledgeable business leaders.