THE Government is to allocate $13 million of extra money for the new Second Senior School in today's Budget, taking the total cost of the project to $101 million.

And the new Berkeley school will not be completed until at least a year after the original target date of September last year, new Works & Engineering Minister Ashfield DeVent announced in a press conference yesterday.

Mr. DeVent also revealed that the Government is in the midst of a legal wrangle with the project's general contractor Pro-Active Management Systems Ltd., which has submitted a claim against the Government.

Shadow Works & Engineering Minister Pat Gordon-Pamplin said the announcement showed up the "serious incompetence" of former Works & Engineering Minister and now Premier Alex Scott and his Government.

The Government had "lost all credibility", she added, and had "treated the public with disdain".

After arriving half an hour late for the conference at the Cabinet Office, Mr. DeVent said: "Construction of the new senior secondary school is now not scheduled to be complete for at least a year after we had expected.

"I am not at all happy to have to bring this news to the public, our client, the Ministry of Education, or particularly the students who would be attending this new school and their parents."

Mr. DeVent said the main reason for the delay was the claim submitted by Pro-Active against the Government in September last year. He gave no details about the claim. "In an effort to resolve it, the parties agreed to have the claim reviewed by Doug Holmberg of HR Lubben Group on behalf of Government and by Barry Brower on behalf of Pro-Active," Mr. DeVent said. During negotiations, the consultants had recommended that an extension be granted to the contractor, partly based on "challenges encountered after site works had begun".

"These challenges included but were not limited to extra time to complete the project because of design changes and changes related to the structural steel design," Mr. DeVent said.

"To date the Ministry continues to meet Pro-Active in an attempt to agree a new set of conditions for proceeding with the project from this point forward.

"In the event that the Ministry is not able to conclude these negotiations to our satisfaction, we will consider all options available under the existing contract between ourselves and Pro-Active.

"In order to accommodate this extension, the Government has made a provision of an additional $13 million for the project. The additional funds will provide protection against any items that might arise.

"The additional funds take the total allocated funding for the project from $88 million to $101 million.

"I know that this delay has come as a great disappointment to many, including the Ministry of Education and I am not naive enough to hope that this announcement will be taken lightly.

"Some of the criticism may be justified. However, we can all appreciate that it is not unusual for a construction project of this magnitude to be subject to delays of one kind or another."

Mr. DeVent, who became Works & Engineering Minister last month in the Cabinet reshuffle following the death of former Finance Minister Eugene Cox, declined to answer questions in detail after making his statement.

But he did say he did not expect the school to be ready for September this year and stressed that work was continuing on the site.

The announcement comes as an embarrassment for Premier Scott.

A year ago, Mr. Scott dismissed Opposition claims that the project costs could rise to $100 million as "headline grabbing by people who don't know the facts".

Mr. Scott also criticised Auditor General Larry Dennis for "speculating" after he predicted in his special audit report of November 2002 that the school would not be completed until "way beyond March 2004".

The United Bermuda Party's Mrs. Gordon-Pamplin said: "On the eve of the 2004/05 Budget, the Minister of Works and Engineering has admitted what we, in the Opposition, have been saying for quite some time ? that the Senior Secondary School will be late in completion, and significantly over budget.

"They gave us an initial completion date of September 2003, revised it to May 2004, for occupancy in September 2004. "The Premier, Alex Scott, in his capacity as Works & Engineering Minister, debunked our claims that there would be delays.

"The replacement Minister Terry Lister promised regular updates to the public, none of which were forthcoming.

"And the new fall guy, inexperienced Minister Ashfield DeVent has to come cap in hand to the public to beg on behalf of the Finance Minister for the public indulgence to pay for the serious incompetence of the now Premier and the PLP administration.

"It is futile to ask the Government to give us a revised completion date ? the public has been consistently misled from the beginning, and unfortunately, the Premier, his Cabinet and the PLP Government have lost all credibility in this project. We believe the public would be lucky to have a completion date of September 2005."

In a Motion to Adjourn in the House of Assembley last Friday, Mrs. Gordon-Pamplin said she suggested over-spending of $10 million, which proved to be an underestimate. Mr. Scott had said her claims were exaggerated.

"It is sad that right to the bitter end, in the face of all evidence to the contrary, the Premier and his Cabinet have adopted an attitude of misleading the public," Mrs. Gordon-Pamplin said.

"We still don't know what it will cost.

"The Premier, as Works & Engineering Minister, chose to ignore the best advice of his knowledgeable technical officers, and to make his own decision regarding the contract.

"The decision was flawed from the beginning, and the tax-payer is being asked to foot the bill for their incompetence.

"The victims of this gross mismanagement are the students, parents and teachers.

"The PLP Government has treated the Bermudian public with disdain, and do not even have the grace to acknowledge their culpability in this tragic set of circumstances."

The project has been riddled with controversy since Pro-Active was awarded the contract by the Cabinet against the advice of Works & Engineering Ministry officials.

Police are also investigating the payment of $700,000 by Government to cover the cost of a performance bond ? a type of insurance policy for the project. The Works & Engineering Ministry have so far been unable to come up with a receipt to show that is what the money was used for.