The government has announced that it will move away from the its heavy reliance on the rental of privately owned buildings to house its ministries and departments, and instead, build and own such accommodations in the future.
The announcement comes from Prime Minister Gaston Browne in his first public comment on last week’s decision by the Ryan Family to padlock a building on the Old Parham Road that housed a number of departments, including the Bureau of Standards.
According to the Prime Minister, the government spends millions of dollars annually on the rental of property and that much of this money could be used to pay the mortgage for a loan for several buildings that the government could own.
He announced that the government has decided to give the Spencer Family 30-days to vacate the property on the American Road, immediately west of Harney Motors where the government intends to erect a multi-storey office complex.
He said work on this project will commence sometime this year.
Meanwhile, temporary accommodation is being arranged to house the Bureau of Standard.
In addition, PM Browne also revealed that renovation work will commence almost immediately on the building on the LIAT Road, east of the GATE Building that formerly housed the Daily Observer newspaper.
He stated that the building is owned by the government and whilst an entity has been operation there for some time, the government is to take immediate possession of the building to enable the renovations to begin.
That building has over 20-thousand square foot of space and it will accommodate several departments when the renovations and upgrade are completed.
The reiterated that the era of government renting accommodations from private entities is fast coming to an end as this arrangement is ‘totally untenable’.
