Friar’s Hill Road building lease arrangements clarified by Works Ministry.

The Ministry of Works recently released additional details about the leasing arrangements for the property on Friars Hill Road owned by the prime minister’s son.

Recently, this building has received a lot of attention and scrutiny, which could be due to its owner’s identity.

According to the official statement, in 2021, the Ministry of Works engaged a contractor to retrofit and furnish a property on Friars Hill Road to accommodate the Ministry of Housing, Lands, and Urban Renewal.

However, the property was unsuitable for immediate use and required significant renovations.

The decision to use this space was made by the Permanent Secretary and Senior Officers of the Ministry of Housing, Lands, and Urban Renewal.

This decision was made during a period of staff unrest and calls from the ABPSA to urgently relocate them from the Ministry of Agriculture building near Country Pond.

The renovation process involved a comprehensive approach, which included gutting the superstructure, constructing offices and bathrooms, installing ceilings, plumbing, electrical and lighting systems, furnishing, tiling, replacing windows and doors, installing central and split AC units, and painting.

The initial contract was valued at $852,834.03 for a 5,814.523 sq ft area and was based on a quantity survey by the Ministry of Works.

Before completing the first building, a 30% reduction was agreed upon for retrofitting the second building, which would house the Ministry of Housing, Lands, and Urban Renewal headquarters and a section of the Development Control Authority.

This additional scope was valued at $450,000.00 and was completed within the savings from the negotiated discount, totaling $255,850.21.

An adjacent parcel of land vested in the crown was developed into a parking lot, alongside other enhancements, with a value of $150,000.

Overall, the retrofitting extended to 8,278.523 sq ft of office space.

The breakdown of the cost was as follows: Original contract: $852,834.03, Reduction savings (30%): $255,850.21, Completion of building 1: $596,983.83, Completion of Building 2 and parking lot (parking lot belongs to crown): $255,850.21, Total expenditure: $852,834.04 (furnishings included).

In addition to retrofitting the Ministry of Housing, Lands, and Urban Renewal headquarters, the Ministry performed similar retrofitting for other offices and spaces.

The Cannabis Authority on Friars Hill Road was retrofitted at a cost of $875,932.66, while the Social Transformation Renovations cost $682,054.46.

The ECCA Headquarters at Coolidge was also retrofitted at an estimated cost of approximately $687,389.00.

Finally, the refurbishment at Barrymore Hotel cost $2,481,954.35.

The issue started when the Representative for St Johns Rural West, Richard Lewis, asked the Prime Minister, Gaston Browne, to be transparent about the agreement to rent his son’s property at Friars Hill Road. Lewis is worried that the Prime Minister is trying to deceive the public.

Lewis discovered that the Prime Minister’s son is the sole owner of the property currently occupied by government offices on Friars Hill Road. The Prime Minister referred to his son’s company as an “investment group,” which Lewis thinks is misleading.

Lewis has also raised concerns about the true ownership of the property, the lack of information on the Government’s future plans for it, the real costs of the agreement, and the absence of figures on the amount spent to improve the property.

The Lease Agreement requires the Government to pay rent at a rate of $1 per month and authorizes repairs and additions to the building. Lewis isn’t sure if there are plans to make additions to the property as permitted by the Lease Agreement.

Lewis says the taxpayers of Antigua and Barbuda have no evidence that this agreement is cost-effective, which is a big concern.