  |
Museum lecture takes you down memory lane
|
The little-known costs of the relocation of MOD and Gibraltar Government facilities to make way for the air terminal building and associated works give added weight to the view of the Opposition that the cost of this project cannot be justified.
These additional expenses run into millions of pounds and are separate from and additional to the cost of the actual air terminal itself. The relocation costs of MOD facilities and installations total over £8 million.
Additionally, there are also costs associated with the relocation of Gibraltar Government facilities and installations which total in excess of £3 million.
A press statement from the GSLP/Liberal Opposition makes the point that "the real cost of the air terminal project is therefore not only the cost of the actual construction, which was estimated at about £50 million, but in addition the cost of other works which have had to be carried out as a consequence of it."
It adds: This includes relocating facilities and installations for the Ministry of Defence and for the Gibraltar Government itself, given the new access roads, approach ramps and the fact that the air terminal has been moved from its existing location to a new location next to the frontier with Spain.
MOD RELOCATION COSTS
At the last meeting of Parliament, Shadow Minister with responsibility for civil aviation Dr Joseph Garcia asked Government to provide a breakdown of the cost of the relocation of MOD facilities and installations in connection with the construction of the new air terminal building and the proposed tunnel under the runway.
The Government replied that the relocation cost relating to the airport terminal itself was £1,112,413 in construction costs only with an additional estimated £14,613 in design fees. In addition to this, a further £6,472,711 in construction costs has been spent to date relocating MOD facilities and installations associated with the access roads and approach ramps, with an additional estimated £841,452 in design fees.
This means that the cost of MOD relocations to date is of £8.4 million pounds that the taxpayers of Gibraltar have had to pay in addition to the cost of the actual air terminal building, says the statement.
This has included over £2 million spent on building 20A for the centralisation of RAF HQ, various demolition works, over £800,000 spent on the Princess Royal hospital entrance, and over half a million pounds on a new explosive store. There is still an estimated further £472,000 to be spent on the different relocations.
GOVERNMENT's OWN RELOCATIONS
Dr Garcia also probed the cost of the Gibraltar Government’s own relocations and was told that £705,252 has been spent on Gibraltar Government facilities and installations associated with the new airport terminal. There was an additional estimated £81,104 in design fees. A further £2.3 million has been spent on relocations in relation to the access roads and approach ramps with an estimated further £260,788 in design fees.
This means that the Gibraltar Government’s own relocations have cost over £3 million to date. This has included half a million pounds in relation to the Sunrise View garages at Eastern Beach, several demolitions, £357,261 on the temporary loop at the frontier, £224,374 on telecom masts and £172,602 on the demolition of two Government houses, other buildings and trees. The sum of £120,729 was paid to tenants.
VAST SCALE
Commenting on the matter, Shadow Minister responsible for Civil Aviation Dr Joseph Garcia said: “There is no way in which this vast expenditure can be justified on economic grounds or as planning for the future. Indeed, this simply confirms the view of the Opposition that it would have made much more sense, and cost considerably less money, to expand and refurbish the existing air terminal rather than construct a new one at a different location.
"The costs of relocating and re-providing facilities on the present scale would obviously not have entered the equation. The policy decision of the Government to embark on this project on such a vast scale, regardless of the expense, is something that we completely disagree with.”
12-11-10
|
|
|
|
