“More than £6.3m has been paid so far to contractors working on the Promenade reconstruction project.
And the Department of Infrastructure says expenditure is currently within original estimates.
The £25m scheme has been dogged by delays and technical issues.
Its original completion date of October this year has been put back to August 2021.
A Freedom of Information request to the DoI asked how much has been certified by the design team for payment to the contractor and whether expenditure is in accordance with the original estimate.
It also asked if the works are in accordance with the contract programme and if not how far behind they are; whether any work had been condemned; and whether a clerk of works has been appointed.
The DoI confirmed that certified payments to date total £6,381,830 and expenditure is currently within the original estimate.
It said sequencing of the construction work has changed as the work has progressed and the current working sequence is in accordance with the latest submitted programme.
Planned completion ’currently stands’ at August 2021, the DoI said.
Under the contract, work not meeting the required specification is highlighted to the contractor as a defect. ’A number of defects have been notified under this contract,’ the department confirmed.
The DoI said it has appointed supervisors for this scheme, as specified under the contract. A planned completion date has been put back from October 2020 to April 2021, then June 2021, and now August 17, 2021.
This further delay is the result of a decision not to work on the land side outside hotels and businesses during the summer months from May 1 to September 1.
Technical problems have included cracks appearing in the concrete tramway corridor, and coming across pipes and other underground services that did not appear on any chart.”