Work on two state-owned hotels will commence this year; construction on Holiday Inn Express is set to begin in April, while Marriott at Peters Hope will start construction in the last quarter of 2022.
Minister of Finance Camilo Gonsalves, speaking on the Issue at Hand Programme on Sunday 27 March, said the contract for work on the Holiday Inn Express has already been awarded.
“The contractors have asked for a couple of weeks to see if they can save a dollar here and there, to make sure that they keep the price—for their profit, I mean, they have already agreed to what we are going to pay them, but they are trying to maximize their earnings”.
Gonsalves says that the contractors have informed him that the Holiday Inn Express building can be completed in 18 months, with several more months for furniture and fittings.
In speaking to the Marriott Hotel, Gonsalves said the officials from Marriott were in the state recently, and their visit was in relation to cost.
The Minister said everything had risen about twenty percent, so they made suggestions about what could be done to reduce costs.
“There are some bathroom elements you can pre-fabricate overseas and bring here and install. There are some new technologies and new types of concrete that can be used, which are slightly lighter and less expensive. So they have suggested ways to cut a million here and a five hundred thousand there”.
“Around August, you will see the construction of the internal roads, the back walls, the parking lots; they started to dig the trenches for the sewage and irrigation and those sorts of things, and then before this year is out, you’ll see foundations coming up out of the ground for the Marriott, and that is looking like maybe a 24-28 month build,” Gonsalves said.
Gonsalves said the Marriott hotel in Peters Hope will be functioning and welcoming guests by 2025.