Moat at PM's residence cost $1.2 million

Opposition Leader Basdeo Panday wants a full accounting of the cost of the prime minister's residence and diplomatic centre at St. Ann's.

Documents from UDeCOTT submitted to the Uff enquiry into the construction section reveal that the project cost more than six times the original estimate, ending at $243.9 million.

Read the story: PM's residence cost $243.9M

The project, according to the Newsday newspaper, included a lighted moat as part of a landscaping package for which UDeCOTT approved a payment of $1.2 million. But Newsday said it appears that the $1.2 million bill was separate from another bill submitted by the contractor for the project, Shanghai Construction Group.

Shanghai asked for payment of a $2.6 million bill for “landscaping work”. It said the company asked for a 50 percent down payment to pay sub-contractor Terra Forma for landscaping.

But on May 28, 2008, UDeCOTT's corporate secretary wrote to the managing director of Terra Forma Design and Construction Limited, Jose Heredia, informing him that Udecott approved a proposal for lighting of the grounds of the residence and diplomatic centre and the installation of a moat.

Newsday said the cost of the project was $1,223,042.05, VAT inclusive for the landscape lighting design ($862,752.08) and installation of the moat ($360, 289.97).