The Police/court building is around four months behind schedule as Government finally admitted Canadian contractors Lisgar had left the job.

However consultant Eddie Henri, who is overseeing the project, is confident the $78 million building can hit its deadline of September 2010 without an increase in cost or a decline in quality – despite the delay.

Yesterday the media was given a tour of the Hamilton building site. Works and Engineering Minister Derrick Burgess – who called the event – did not attend, leaving Permanent Secretary Robert Horton to field questions.

He admitted the project was a "little behind schedule", but added: "We are confident we will catch up without comprising standards, safety or cost.

"The media will be provided with constant updates as the project progresses."

Last week, The Royal Gazette sent 26 questions to Government about the project which have been ignored.

And in a separate article, this newspaper revealed that Lisgar had left the job with a substantial cash settlement. Government responded with a press release saying it was "false in almost every material respect".

Asked yesterday why such mystery had surrounded Lisgar's November departure, Mr. Horton said: "I know nothing of mystery."

He added later: "As you will know it was a business decision and Lisgar, which was the Canadian component of Landmark/Lisgar, withdrew from that relationship."

Asked why, he said: "It was a business decision, we are not privy to discussions between shareholders and the directors of that company."

He said the question of why Lisgar had gone must be put to the Minister.

Asked why Government was dealing with a company which included Winters Burgess, site manager for Pro-Active, the company sacked from the Berkeley project, Mr. Horton refused to answer.

Government is still owed $15 million from Pro-Active. The Berkeley project was $55 million over budget and three years late.

And Mr. Horton also did not say why Government was dealing with a company which has shareholders hidden in a blind trust.

This newspaper has revealed that a new company, LLC Bermuda Ltd., had been set up to replace Landmark Lisgar Construction Ltd after Canadian partners Lisgar left.

Documents show a substantial proportion of the shares – 3,900 out of the 10,000 total – are held in a trust shielding the names of its beneficiaries.

Asked why a civil servant was put in front of the press to answer questions, Mr. Horton said: "The Minister is at Cabinet. We agreed we would give the press an opportunity to visit the site."

It's thought $14 million had already been spent on the Police/court building by late 2008, while similar buildings in Hamilton have had their structures completed for less.

The Royal Gazette understands the building structure was supposed to be enclosed by now with the walls and roof in place.

Said Mr. Horton: "I don't know where you got that information.

"We leave it to the builders to determine the stages. We just know when the contract was signed it was going to take a total of 967 days, which is a little under three years."

Mr. Henri, who has been seconded from BCM McAlpine to oversee the job, and has 30 years' building experience said: "We are some months behind, there is no point trying to hide that. The important thing is the end date – it is doable to hit that date. Four months behind would be fair.

"Everyone is pointing fingers but they had challenges with the ground conditions."

It also finally emerged yesterday that Conyers and Associates took over from the project's original architects on December 1.

Canadian firm CSP designed the project, and had worked on it since the late 1990s.

Questions about the status of those two had also been ignored by Government last week and in December. But Conyers representatives were onsite for yesterday's press conference.

Mr. Horton said Government took the decision to remove CSP because time was being lost because they weren't on site.

"We felt that was contributing somewhat to the delays."

Asked if that change would incur additional costs, Mr. Horton said: "No, we were very careful that there would be no costs although there may be some costs payable to CSP but that hasn't yet been determined."

Harold Conyers, of Conyers and Associates, said Government had taken serious steps to turn the project around. "That is now happening on a daily basis, this thing picks up and accelerates.

"It is not a question of more time and more money, it is perhaps an intelligent application of resources – men, materials and money – and manipulating them in the best possible fashion.

"We recommended Eddie. It is now headed in a completely different direction. It is slightly behind but that will turn around."

Asked if things would now be done on the cheap Mr. Conyers said: "Absolutely not, it is a quality building, it is a quality build."

Mr. Henri said between 40 and 50 workers were now on site. He believes the roof will be on the Church Street side by the end of next month, after two more floors have been put up.

Opposition Works and Engineering spokeswoman Patricia Gordon-Pamplin said: "It is a shame we have to goad Government into releasing information when it is a publicly-funded project. We await the details."