Premier Doug Ford says he has to break his promise to stop a hydroelectric project at picturesque Bala Falls because cancelling the power plant “would cost taxpayers an absolute fortune.”

“I wish you could cancel it but the problem is you leave a big hole in the ground,” Ford said Wednesday at a diner in Milton.

He estimated the cost of axing the North Bala Small Hydro Project being built by Swift River Energy Ltd. at up to $100 million and blamed the previous Liberal government for approving it years ago, prompting local opposition from some cottagers and residents who feared diverting water from the Moon River would leave the picturesque falls running dry.

“It’s frustrating, to say the least,” added Ford, who evaded a question on whether he was unaware of likely cancellation costs last February when he was in the Bala area during the Progressive Conservative leadership race and made his promise.

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At an event with area residents, Ford called the 4.7-megawatt project, providing enough power for about 4,000 homes, a “big scam” and said, “As premier, I will clean up this mess; I will be back here in this same spot and we will stop this project.”

A local group called SaveTheBalaFalls.com has been pressing Ford not to break his promise, particularly after the PC government announced last week $5 million for watershed protection in Muskoka and noted the hydro project, slated for completion early next summer, is proceeding.

“This doesn’t get him out of his promise,” Mitchell Shnier, a spokesman for the community group, said Tuesday.

“We are going to hold him to his word and sincerely hope we aren’t sold out.”

Ford said the company building the hydro project ramped up the pace of construction leading to the June 7 election.

“As the election went on, I understand they were working overtime 24/7 to move it forward even quicker than what we thought.”