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CCNTV6
  • 1 year ago

In light of the UNC's claims of major cost overruns on the new terminal project in Tobago, accompanied by a supporting cabinet note... the Finance Minister says it's a matter of interpretation and some of the items were already included in the original projections.
Here's more.

Transcript
00:00Finance Minister Kom Imbert says the figures he quoted on Thursday about the
00:04US 128 million dollar budget for the new terminal at the A&R Robinson Airport in
00:11Tobago are accurate but was only limited to construction costs. In any project
00:16there are construction costs and there are design costs and there are project
00:21management costs and when one gives a cost of a project it is usually just the
00:24construction costs. We don't normally add in the cost of consultants and that
00:29sort of thing. So I mean that's what you would do. He was referring to media
00:33reports which cited a cabinet note in which an additional 261.1 million dollars
00:40was approved for the project's completion. You have double counted. The
00:4614 million US provisional sums and contingencies is part of the original 128.
00:55It's not extra. The other thing I would like to point out is that the 261 also
01:05includes additional costs for consultants. When I spoke yesterday I
01:11spoke only about the construction contract. So the 128.7 billion US dollars
01:18figure that I used is only for the construction contract. I did not speak to
01:23the consultants. The opposition has been chastising government for cost overruns
01:28on the project. Some of the cost he says has already been included in the cost of
01:34the project. So what was the cabinet note requesting additional funds for and how
01:40much exactly is the overrun? This is what has been told to me. There is an increase in the
01:52provisional and contingency amounts of 2.5 million US dollars. The 5 million US is of
02:00provision. So that hasn't been spent. There is a US 15 million that it is
02:10recommended that be advanced to the contractor while the claims are being
02:14negotiated. There is 10 million for the coast project management fees. 1.8
02:21million to ISQ which I mentioned just now. 11.5 million for the former oversight
02:31and supervision engineer and that is already within our budgetary
02:35allocation. That's already in our budgetary allocation. And then 7.6 million US for Zambia
02:45which is being funded by the budgetary allocation. And additional costs yet to be
02:51ascertained is the contractors 204 million dollar claim for delays which
02:56the minister says is being adjudicated. NEDCO has recommended that the
03:01contractor be advanced the sum of 15 million US pending the settlement of the
03:07claims. The finance minister explains his reasons for hiring consultants Mott
03:12McDonald and Gleads. I was looking at the delays. You see I knew that the delays
03:19would inevitably result in a claim. Okay. This project should have been finished in
03:24say 2023. So I was looking at it and even with COVID I can't adjudicate on what
03:32would happen with COVID. It all depends on the contract. It all depends on how
03:37well a contractor would adjudicate for claims for delays because of COVID and
03:43cost exhalation and so on. So I was concerned because I knew that COVID had
03:50slowed the project down significantly and then also the land acquisition has
03:54slowed the project down significantly. And additionally the minister maintains
03:58he is being transparent with the public. That's a question of interpretation. Okay.
04:03I haven't denied anything in any of these documents. So it's a question of
04:08interpretation. Okay. Because I think the thing that people would want to be
04:16certain of that most concerned about would be the adequacy of the building, the
04:21safety of the building. And it is as you can see it is going to be built to the
04:26it is being built to the highest international standards.
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