The Government will build its second office accommodation building east of George Town, if it has its way.
‘We’re looking very seriously at a site in the east,’ said Leader of Government Business Kurt Tibbetts last week. ‘It is the desire of government to build the building east.’
In making the announcement, Mr. Tibbetts acknowledged that some of the short-listed sites had been removed from consideration.
‘We have eliminated some sites, which are just not practical,’ he said.
Asked if one of the eliminated sites included Camana Bay, which offered a parcel worth at least $4 million to Government free of charge on which to build the government building, Mr. Tibbetts responded: ‘The Camana Bay site is not east.’
Mr. Tibbetts also said that offers at Grand Harbour and Beach Bay had been rejected as not feasible.
The eastward site in which Government is seriously interested for the projected was not identified by Mr. Tibbetts.
However, he did say the deal for that parcel was not finalised and that the Government had to make sure it would be suitable for the project for technical reasons.
If it turns out that parcel could not be used, Mr. Tibbetts left open the possibility Government would re-look at the offer from the Camana Bay developers.
In the meantime, Mr. Tibbetts said the potential builders of the first government accommodation project had been identified through a prequalification process.
That project, which will be on the land next to the existing Glass House government office accommodation, will house 34 departments, including all government portfolios, all ministries, all financial services departments, the Cayman Islands Monetary Authority, the Civil Aviation Authority, the Maritime Authority, Government Information Services and a sub-post office for internal government use, Mr. Tibbetts said.
The three pre-qualified builders included Arch and Godfrey in a joint venture with Manhattan Construction, along with Spillis Candela Architects of Miami and Burns Conolly Design Group; Hadsphaltic International along with Perkins and Will Architects; and McAlpine Ltd. along with OBM Architects.
The pre-qualifications also included specified structural and civil engineers and energy and resource efficiency consultants.
The pre-qualified building teams will submit design and build bids for a fixed price to deliver the building. Tender documents are in the final stage of preparation and will be sent out to the pre-qualified building teams.
‘The current programme for the project envisages government entering the new facilities in mid-2009,’ Mr. Tibbetts said.
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