The Tribune

By KHRISNA RUSSELL

Deputy Chief Reporter

krussell@tribunemedia.net

THE government is satisfied the relocation of the General Post Office to an existing building on Gladstone Road will be "nowhere near" as costly as the previous options that were under consideration, Transport and Local Government Minister Frankie Campbell said yesterday.

Speaking to The Tribune, the minister who has responsibility for post offices, said its relocation to the old Phil's Food Store building is a better deal than having to either spend $4.5m to fix the existing facility or allocating $2.5m to purchase the Independence Drive Shopping Centre. Work to convert this complex into a post office began under the previous Christie administration, but was halted once the Minnis government took office.

However, the minister was unable to reveal how much it would cost to renovate the new post office location to suit the needs of mail services. Mr Campbell also could not say how long the work would take to finish.

He referred The Tribune to Works Minister Desmond Bannister. When he was contacted, Mr Bannister said he was out of the country and was not in the position to answer specific questions about the post office.

"We are still waiting on the Ministry of Works to give us an accurate costing but we are resolved and prepared to do whatever is necessary," Mr Campbell said yesterday. "We are satisfied that its going to be no where near the $4.5m dollars that would have been allocated to be spent at the old post office or the $2.5m that would have been allocated to that property in the area of the roundabout."

Asked about the choice of location he said: "The only thing in life which is constant is change.

"New Providence is 21 by seven and there has been a serious shift in the demographics where people live.

"When that post office was built, people didn't live any further than East Street or any further than Robinson Road and now the southwestern district of New Providence in the last 20 years has seen a tremendous shift in the population but the location of this building is where the people are living."

Press secretary Anthony Newbold made the announcement about the post office relocation on Tuesday during a press briefing.

Previously, the Christie administration launched a public private partnership (PPP) to relocate the post office to the Independence Drive Shopping Centre off Tonique Williams Darling.

However, the Minnis administration halted that project last year, with Mr Bannister saying it received the green light without approved plans or a building permit for construction.

He said though technical officers at the Ministry of Works advised the administration a traffic impact study was needed, none was performed and nor did the government determine if ground contamination from the nearby gas station would occur.

Environmental and social assessments were also not conducted.

Yesterday, officials could not say what will become of that PPP arrangement.

"There may be other uses," one official said, adding a determination has to be made.

Reporters asked Mr Newbold if the Gladstone Road location location is conducive for many of the people who will be accessing the General Post Office.

"Everyone will have to make a way to get to the post office," he said. "We got to do something for those people in the post office. Right now that appears to be the best option and so the good thing about it is it's on a major roadway. Buses run there for people who need to get there but it's also a busy roadway. A lot of people coming from the southwest got to pass the post office either to go to work or to go home. How permanent it's going to be I can't say but at the present time that is the best option; good size, good space."

For many months General Post Office workers have worked shortened shifts at their East Hill Street location because of the "hazardous" conditions, including a malfunctioned air conditioner and a mould problem.