Staff told to work from home
By ANDREW FANASIA
STAFF in the Office of the Prime Minister and Cabinet have been told to work from home while urgent renovation is being done at the office.
That’s according to officials working there.
The rotting office has been leaking since last year.
A short video of the leaking building was posted on social media during the heavy rain on Monday.
It showed rain pouring through the roof and on the floor.
Contractor Tropical Group Builder (TGB) are doing the renovation under the supervision of KRAMER since last weekend.
Asked if the renovation will be done before the new government comes in, an official from the office said they are not sure.
“At the moment we are not sure because the leakage has badly affected the ceiling and the tiling, which will take time and money to fix,” the official said.
The officer added that during the less than 30 minutes rain on Monday night, the office floor was turned into a pool of water.
The bad state of the office has been there since last year.
But officials say delays in the procurement processes means no work was done until last weekend.
“This has to go through a vetting process within the Ministry of Finance and Treasury before contracts can be signed,” an officer explained.
He said the contract was signed on March 7 this year between SIG and TGB for urgent roof and gutter maintenance of the building at a cost of $314,120.38.
The officer further added that another contract for $133,530.10 was awarded to KRAMER for urgent architectural design and management of the project.
The Solomon Star cited the contracts yesterday.
We were told that only 30% of the contract amount was paid to both contractors which will be subjected to withholding Tax.
“We are hoping renovation work will be completed before the new government and prime minister comes in after the April 3 polls.”
