25 August, 2006 in the Mid Ocean News

Govt. tells Canadian firm not to say why Causeway contract was terminated

By Gareth Finighan

AN engineering company hired to help design a new Causeway has been ordered by Government not to divulge why its contract was terminated.

Canadian firm Associated Engineering, along with OBM International, was commissioned by Government to design a new Causeway last summer.

The company's first task was to canvass opinion on various design options and by last August AE vice-president John Fussell said he had already met with around 30 stakeholders in the Causeway.

But on Tuesday Works & Engineering Minister David Burch revealed that the company's contract had been terminated.

"The separation has been amicable and we have reached a settlement with them," Sen. Burch said.

"They got too much business. The bottom line was that this was a small project for them and they weren't really able to get started."

The Minister added that the total cost of the feasibility study for the project had rocketed from around $900,000 to more than $1.5 million.

This week the Mid-Ocean News repeatedly contacted the Ministry of Works & Engineering asking for details of the settlement.

But yesterday a Ministry spokeswoman would only say: "The Ministry can confirm that the contract with AE was concluded in an amicable fashion in March of this year. The Ministry has no further comment to make on this issue."

But a spokeswoman for Associated Engineering claimed the company had been ordered by Government not to disclose details of the split.

"We have been in contact with Government over the last couple of days but, as far as the project is concerned, we cannot provide any comment to you," the spokeswoman said.

"We have been instructed – and it was a very clear instruction – to direct all inquiries back to the Ministry.

"All staff have been given very direct instructions – even our president has been instructed that he direct inquiries back to the Ministry."

Last night Shadow Works & Engineering Minister Jon Brunson questioned why Government was not being open in its handling of public funds.

And he also questioned why so many capital projects appeared to run into trouble.

"Government just doesn't seem to have the ability to manage capital projects effectively and timely," Mr. Brunson said.

"It all started with Berkeley which is now massively over budget and three years behind schedule.

That's set a pattern for other capital projects that Government has undertaken. The new police station and court building is years behind schedule, and we're now looking at a redesign.

"That was some time ago and no real progress has been made. Meanwhile the current police station is in a very poor state and people are having to work in substandard conditions.

"Then we have the roadworks at Collectors Hill. The plan was supposed to improve traffic and started more than a year ago. I understand there have been problems with the acquisition of property but these are things that should have been sorted out at the start.

"Clearly Government didn't have all its ducks in a row and these examples just raise concerns about Government's ability to deliver on capital projects."

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