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2010-02-12 09:09:39
Poor planning of a major tourism project involving upgrading of facilities at the Boscobel Aerodrome in St. Mary has resulted in the government having to fork out $282 million in cost overruns.
The issue was discussed at yesterday’s meeting of Parliament’s Public Administration and Appropriations Committee looking at projects administered by the Ministry of Transport and Works.
The project, which should have been completed last year, was originally budgeted at $100 million, and is being implemented by the Airports Authority of Jamaica (AAJ).
It involves expanding the runway in keeping with plans to convert the aerodrome to an international facility to accommodate larger planes, including improvements to runway lighting and terminal building.
Audley Diedrick, the AAJ’s Vice president of Finance disclosed that to date approximately $158 million has been spent on the project.
He also pointed out that the present terminal building, which was excluded from original construction plans, is being relocated at the Civil Aviation Authority’s request as the existing structure poses a flight obstacle.
Opposition committee member, Dr. Morais Guy, asked Mr. Deidrick whether any feasibility studies had been done prior to construction, given the size of the project.
However, Mr. Diedrick was unable to say if any pre-feasibility design work was conducted, at which point Dr. Guy said it was evident there had been none, as initial engineering design costs previously budgeted at $1 million had been revised to $9.8 million.
Committee member Fitz Jackson charged that poor planning had resulted in more money being spent on the project than anticipated, due to significant changes in the scope of work.
Committee chairman Dr. Wykeham McNeil, then requested that the Permanent Secretary in the Transport and Works Ministry, Dr. Alwin Hales, provide the committee with complete project plans including the feasibility study, revised costs and the approval of the Civil Aviation Authority.
http://go-jamaica.com/news/read_article.php?id=16825
Poor planning of a major tourism project involving upgrading of facilities at the Boscobel Aerodrome in St. Mary has resulted in the government having to fork out $282 million in cost overruns.
The issue was discussed at yesterday’s meeting of Parliament’s Public Administration and Appropriations Committee looking at projects administered by the Ministry of Transport and Works.
The project, which should have been completed last year, was originally budgeted at $100 million, and is being implemented by the Airports Authority of Jamaica (AAJ).
It involves expanding the runway in keeping with plans to convert the aerodrome to an international facility to accommodate larger planes, including improvements to runway lighting and terminal building.
Audley Diedrick, the AAJ’s Vice president of Finance disclosed that to date approximately $158 million has been spent on the project.
He also pointed out that the present terminal building, which was excluded from original construction plans, is being relocated at the Civil Aviation Authority’s request as the existing structure poses a flight obstacle.
Opposition committee member, Dr. Morais Guy, asked Mr. Deidrick whether any feasibility studies had been done prior to construction, given the size of the project.
However, Mr. Diedrick was unable to say if any pre-feasibility design work was conducted, at which point Dr. Guy said it was evident there had been none, as initial engineering design costs previously budgeted at $1 million had been revised to $9.8 million.
Committee member Fitz Jackson charged that poor planning had resulted in more money being spent on the project than anticipated, due to significant changes in the scope of work.
Committee chairman Dr. Wykeham McNeil, then requested that the Permanent Secretary in the Transport and Works Ministry, Dr. Alwin Hales, provide the committee with complete project plans including the feasibility study, revised costs and the approval of the Civil Aviation Authority.
http://go-jamaica.com/news/read_article.php?id=16825
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