Document centre construction cost jumps to $119.9M

Nov 04, 2018 News

The document centre under construction at Kingston.

The construction of a document center for the Ministry of Public Infrastructure (MOPI) is now costing taxpayers $119.9M.
The construction cost was initially projected to be $99.9M, but due to a late decision to undertake changes to the roof design and interior walls, the Ministry sought an additional $20M which was approved by the National Assembly last week.
Located in the compound of the MOPI in Kingston, the document centre is a three-storey concrete structure measuring 40ft x 70ft. It is said to be 70% completed.
During the discussion on the additional funding, Minister of Public Infrastructure, David Patterson faced questions from People’s Progressive Party (PPP), Juan Edghill about the project, including the total cost for construction.
Edghill stated that the Government was spending $42,000 per sq. ft while the average cost for high end building in Guyana is about 13,000 per sq. ft. Patterson stated that Edghill’s calculation was off and that the building is a three-storey structure of about 8,400 sq. ft.
“He entered into a contract of $99.350 million. The work is 70% completed and while this building is being built, we now have a change of mind on how we would like to have the roof and interior walls built. As a result of that change of mind, we are asked to appropriate another $20M to facilitate this. Could the Minister provide justification for this?” Edghill questioned.
Patterson explained that the original designs did not cater for provisions to support the solar system.
“We are modifying the internal works to use lighter construction material to allow more natural lighting in keeping with our energy efficiency and our new green state construction methods,” Patterson stated.
The Minister indicated that this is not a case where the roof was completed and then changed.
“When we did an analysis, it was decided and agreed upon for energy efficiency and to stick with our green state construction that we should incorporate solar panels in it; and incorporate the use of natural light…I do think it is value for money,” Patterson noted.
According to the Minister, adding the solar panel will reduce the cost to the electricity grid by 30% per annum with a payback period about two years.