The new $70 million Government secondary school will be lucky to be open by September 2004 - a year behind schedule - and extremely lucky to be within budget, construction experts claimed last night.

Despite repeated claims by Works and Engineering Minister Alex Scott that the new Berkeley Institute project was, at most, two months behind the scheduled date of September 2003, The Royal Gazette was yesterday told it was unlikely to be open until at a year later than planned.

Sources said everyone on the site, including the Ministry, was unofficially aiming to have the new school open to students by Spring of 2004.

However, they said they were very unlikely to hit that deadline, and said it would be a major challenge to have the new senior school open by September that year.

One senior source, who has close links to the site but wished to remain anonymous, said: “The building is still not waterproof. They should be working inside by now.

“Everybody and his brother who goes up there wants to know why they are so far behind. They admit that they are behind schedule, but won't say by how much.

“Everyone is aiming for spring, 2004, but they will be struggling to meet that. I think September that year is more likely, although that will also be difficult. There is no possible way it will be ready for September next year, as originally planned.”

The source said the delays were due to a combination of problems, such as lack of labour, lack of man hours and overtime, lack of expertise, and lack of money.

And it is believed that sub-contractors working on the site are becoming increasingly frustrated as they can only move at the pace of the project, and the delays could, in the long-run, increase their overall costs.

However, construction experts and many others around the Island have heard numerous rumours during recent weeks regarding the site on Berkeley Road in Pembroke.

The most common one reported to The Royal Gazette is that an independent project manager is to be brought in to oversee the site, over general contractor Pro-Active Management Systems Ltd.

However, there have also been rumours that Pro-Active is no longer in charge of the site.

President of Pro-Active Arthur Ebbin last night said all the rumours and allegations were lies. Numerous calls have also been made to Mr. Scott in the last three days, but none have been returned.

One of the senior members of Pro-Active, Winters Burgess, was contacted at home, but would simply say that he had heard no such rumours of Pro-Active losing some or all of its responsibility for the site.

He said: “I have not heard the rumours. I know nothing about it whatsoever.”

And asked whether Pro-Active was still in charge of the site, he said: “As far as I know. Until you hear differently.”

Yesterday, workers on the site said they belonged to sub-contracting firms and so could not comment on the Pro-Active situation.

However, they said it was common knowledge that the project was way behind schedule.

One man said: “Just look at it. Does it look as though the school is going to be open on time? They are way behind.”

And another man said: “The building is nowhere near water-tight. There is only one single window fitted. There is still a large part of the building to erect.”

When The Royal Gazette went to photograph the site yesterday, little was different from the last time pictures were published in the newspaper in July.

Steel is now erected on an additional section of the main school building, and much of the roof is completed, but many walls and windows have still not been installed.

A second construction expert said he believed the site would be at least a year behind, and questioned who would pay for the additional costs.

The senior source, who also did not wish to be named, said: “The project should be running at full-tilt now, and it obviously isn't. It is too quiet down there.

“There does not seem to be any sense of urgency. I am hearing a lot of rumblings from people involved, such as sub-contractors, who are saying they are unhappy.

“People are complaining that site meetings are totally disorganised and nothing seems to get done, and they are unhappy with the way progress is going.

“Some sub-contractors have asked to be paid directly from Government, rather than from Pro-Active, so that they protect themselves. The whole thing is mind-boggling.

“I have had many years in the industry and I would say to be ready for even September 2004 would be a huge challenge.”

The source asked whether the delays and introduction of a new project manager would lead to the general public being out of pocket.

He said: “The people of Bermuda should be told what is going on and whether or not the project is going to cost more money.

“We still don't really know who put up the performance bond, and whether it will be needed now to cover any additional costs.

“It may be that they need to call in the performance bond. It would usually be used to cover any financial gap. I think people should be told whether it is going to be needed. The public should not have to foot the bill for extra costs.”

And the source said a lot of time was needed for staff once the school had been handed over after completion.

He added: “Teachers simply can't move in there the day before. It almost looks like this school is going to be ready for the next generation.”