The Tribune

By NICO SCAVELLA

Tribune Staff Reporter

nscavella@tribunemedia.net

CONSTRUCTION at the Bahamas Agriculture and Marine Science Institute, expected to be completed by the beginning of this month, will more likely be finished by the end of the year, said Agriculture Minister V Alfred Gray.

The reconstruction of the fire-damaged male dormitory has not yet started, but should start “very soon,” Mr Gray told The Tribune.

He added that he has been advised that a contract has been signed for the rebuilding of that structure and that the reconstruction of the fire-damaged dorm is expected to take some six months, as opposed to the two-year deadline previously suggested by BAMSI President Dr Godfrey Eneas.

The female dorm, Mr Gray said, is about 98 per cent complete, and most of the buildings have reached “near completion.”

As a result of the incomplete dormitories, however, Mr Gray said the government is still renting space in Nicholl’s Town, Andros, to house between 40-45 students enrolled at the institute. Mr Gray also admitted that school officials have had to “curtail” enrolment because they “did not want to expand beyond what we are reasonably able to accommodate.”

Nonetheless, the MICAL MP said classes are currently being held at the North Andros site. Mr Gray also said that while progress is being made on the site – although not as fast as officials would like – the mission of the school is underway.

“Most of the buildings have reached near completion, and the total completion of the buildings, I cannot honestly say, will be ready before the end of the month,” Mr Gray told The Tribune during a recent interview. “We thought we would have them ready for the beginning of the school year, but they’re not all ready and so we still have not yet been able to occupy them for the school’s use.

“But I have been assured by the Ministry of Works’ people that they are working assiduously to have the buildings completed in the shortest possible time working with the contractors. So my view is, with all being the way it was described to me, the buildings should all be completed by the end of the year. I will go that far.

“With respect with the burnt building, I’m advised that a contract has been signed for the reconstruction of that building. It has not yet started but it should certainly start very soon, and that would take about six months to be completed.”

Mr Gray added: “The farm side has always been progressive without any difficulties (pertaining to) the progress there. And so when you combine the efforts of the commercial farm and the school I would say we have had a very good year last year. Of course we had graduation; everybody knows about that, and we’re looking forward to graduation next year again.”

In January, Mr Gray said BAMSI would be finished by the beginning of the next school year.

At the time, Mr Gray said “all of the kinks” associated with the controversy surrounding BAMSI’s construction and subsequent completion had been “ironed out” and that construction was to be “fast-paced to a conclusion in the shortest possible time.”

He added that all of the other buildings at the North Andros site are “almost complete in most cases” with “one or two exceptions.”

Then in May, Mr Gray said he expected construction on all but one of the buildings at BAMSI - the burned dorm - was to be completed before the end of that month. He said at the time that the government was planning the construction of a larger building to house twice as many students at the original structure, thus excluding it from the May deadline.

The same was echoed by Dr Eneas towards the end of May, who at the time also expressed optimism in a September 2016 completion date.

BAMSI is a major government initiative established in an effort to reduce the country’s reliance on food imports. The school opened to students in September 2014 even though the campus was not finished.

The institute held its first graduation ceremony on July 7, graduating some 23 students.

The fire-damaged dorm, which was constructed by contractor Audley Hanna of Paradigm Construction, sparked controversy when Works Minister Philip “Brave” Davis revealed that it was never insured.

Mr Davis had previously said in the House of Assembly that at the time of the fire, the contractor’s all-risk insurance policy had lapsed due to non-payment.

In July 2015, Mr Davis said the destroyed dormitory would not be repaired until all other BAMSI buildings had been completed.