Cost of unfinished Brian Lara Staduim nearing $1 billion

Documents filed at the Uff Inquiry into the construction sector and UDeCOTT show that the estimated cost of the Brian Lara Stadium and Cricket Academy project in Tarouba is nearing $1-billion. And it's still not finished and years behind schedule.

The documents submitted by UDeCOTT show that the estimated cost for the project at March 2008 was $885 million, having risen from $510 million. The original figure for the stadium in the prime minister's constituency was $375 million.

The details are reported in the Newsday newspaper based on documents it says it has seen.

It says the documents contain a cover-sheet breaking down UDeCOTT’s own estimates for the costs for the project, including the management and consultancy fees.

Here is some of the cost breakdown between October 2006 and March 2008:

• Package 1 for excavation work and other preliminaries such as drainage costs rose from $52.7 million to $154.7 million
• Package 2A for piling and further preliminaries rose from $20.1 million to $28.8 million, inclusive of a cost for project delay which amounted to $4.4 million
• Package 2 for superstructure rose from $167.8 million to $206.3 million
• Package 3 for interior/exterior finishes increased from $83 million to $84 million
• Package 4 increased from $9.6 million to $16 million

Newsday said all construction costs for the project went up from $469 million in 2006 to $621.8 million in 2008. But these costs did not include fees for one-time project manager Turner Alpha which rose from $50.6 million to $88.8 million, as well as the addition of $4 million in fees for new project manager Genivar.

It said consultancy fees also increased from $2.5 million to $4.9 million. UDeCOTT’s fees remained a flat $5 million, but the company added on $3 million in re-imbursables in 2008.

UDeCOTT's chief operating officer Neelanda Rampaul told the Uff enquiry earlier this year the cost of the project was around $700 million. The inquiry’s independent construction expert Gerry McCaffrey put the project’s cost at around $750 million in an initial report submitted in February.

The commission resumes hearings next week.