Fears expressed by a third party observer that the money spent on redeveloping Potter's Cay Dock will "skyrocket to epic proportions" appear to be well founded. The cost of redoing the stalls has jumped from $2 million or so approved in March 2016 to $9 million as of last week.
Democratic National Alliance (DNA) finance spokesman and Garden Hills candidate Youri Kemp said he expects the amount of money spent on redeveloping Potter's Cay Dock to "skyrocket to epic proportions" from the $12 million figure the government has bruited about.
That expectation looks to have already come true.
Last week Minister of Agriculture and Marine Resources V. Alfred Gray let slip that the Cabinet is considering a $9 million proposal for the redevelopment of the stalls on the dock. In March, Gray said the ministry had proposed a price point between $2 million and $2.5 million to reformat and reconstruct the nearly 75 stalls currently in operation at Potter's Cay Dock.
Last week it was reported that the $9 million figure was triple the initial figure quoted for redeveloping Potter's Cay Dock. But, the government has since "clarified" that the new amount is in fact four times that initial price, in that the $9 million proposal is in addition to the $3.1 million being worked out under the Ministry of Transport and Aviation.
Kemp spoke with Guardian Business about the matter and expressed great skepticism.
"My issue with regard to these new stalls out at Potter's Cay Dock is that we know how this will go with this PLP administration. They say $3.1 million for the transport side of the construction; then they say $9 million for the agricultural side, which is primarily stalls. Then they say that the now $12 million plus is not inclusive of the payouts they plan to do to compensate the vendors.
"Then they want us to believe that this amount can cover what they are bragging about covering - cargo holding area, new roadways around the dock and other administrative buildings, which means that this $12 million will skyrocket to epic proportions.
"This means more wayward spending and leaves the Treasury open to stick-em-up tactics. This certainly means these works will be altered and changed dramatically, and that means more waste and confusion," he said.
In addition to challenging the math, Kemp demanded the production of the scope of works.
"Why are these statements from Minister Gray and Minster Glenys Hanna-Martin so disjointed? When did this go out to bid and who won the bid?"
Guardian Business understands multiple companies are participating in the works.
"More importantly, this does not go anywhere near the works needed to make the dock safe and secure in the long term. The dock needs to be fortified; the docking area needs to be expanded; a fueling station needs to be put onsite, and a new slip area for loading and offloading vessels needs to be at the site as well.
"In addition, the dock repairs need to go hand-in-hand with the refurbishment of the old bridge, which is crumbling on top of people every day, from what we have been led to understand. Also, the dock was envisaged to be a part of the entire downtown and Bain Town redevelopment efforts - what happened to that?
"I do not like this project presented to us now by this PLP administration at all. It reeks of the same half-eaten projects originating from the PLP, and it looks like we will spend more money for less work while the major works that we need to have at the dock are put off for another five or six years, wasting more money for less without the important works being done," Kemp said.
K. Quincy Parker, Guardian Business Editor
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