By NICO SCAVELLA

Tribune Staff Reporter

nscavella@tribunemedia.net

The Bahamas Agriculture and Marine Science Institute (BAMSI) will be completed by the beginning of the next school year, Minister of Agriculture V Alfred Gray said on Friday. 

Mr Gray said that "all of the kinks" associated with the controversy surrounding BAMSI's construction and subsequent completion have been "ironed out" and construction should "now be fast-paced to a conclusion in the shortest possible time”.

He added that all of the other buildings at the North Andros site are "almost completed in most cases" with "one or two exceptions”.

Mr Gray also said a new dormitory will be erected to replace the one that was totally destroyed by fire one year ago at "very little expense" to the government. While he could not give a timeline for the completion of the new dorm, he said it "will not be long" before a contract is issued for its reconstruction.   

Mr Gray's statements came a little under two months after FNM Leader Dr Hubert Minnis claimed that "not one thing" had changed at the BAMSI site since he initially toured the site one year prior. 

At the time, Dr Minnis said the fire damaged dorm was in "the exact same state" and had not been worked on. 

The dorm, constructed by contractor Audley Hanna of Paradigm Construction, which was set on fire and completely destroyed in January of last year, sparked controversy when Works Minister Philip "Brave" Davis revealed that it was never insured. 

Mr Davis had previously said in the House of Assembly that at the time of the fire, the contractor's all-risk insurance policy had lapsed due to non-payment. Then in July, Mr Davis said the destroyed dormitory would not be repaired until all other BAMSI buildings have been completed. 

Mr Davis has also said it will cost $5.5m to rebuild the destroyed dorm, which will be reconfigured from single occupancy to double. 

"The building is now destroyed, and a new building will be built in its place," Mr Gray said on Friday. "I do not have a timeline for the new building, but I can tell you because of the scheme of things at BAMSI, it will not be long before a contract is issued for the reconstruction of that building at very little expense to the government, because there's a formula I'm advised that has been worked out so that the building will be built and we're looking forward to that.”

He added: "All of the other buildings are almost complete in most cases with one or two exceptions, and I think it is important for me to envision that by the end of the school year, certainly before the beginning of the next school year, BAMSI will be ready. That is my expectation, that is my hope, and we are working towards that end.”

Mr Gray went on to acknowledge the controversy surrounding BAMSI's incompletion - the facility was originally scheduled to open in September 2014 - expressing confidence that the "kinks" surrounding the construction of the institute have long since been dealt with. 

"We had some setbacks, it's no question about that, but they were all outside the control of the ministry or the government, and I'll say why," he said. "When you give a contract to contractors with timelines, you expect that they would honour the terms of the contract. But in some cases, weather conditions, some cases the mobility of supplies and a whole lot of things could conspire to make timelines difficult to meet, and in BAMSI's case some of that took place. 

"After the fire, we stopped all of the construction to get a handle on the contents of every contract to make sure the burnt building experience never happens again. And so all of the kinks have been ironed out and construction should now be fast paced to a conclusion in the shortest possible time." 

Mr Gray's comments came on the heels of a press conference on Friday to announce the reintroduction of the Back Yard Farming initiative, which seeks to promote local food production which would in turn limit the amount of government expenditure on imported food products. 

According to Mr Gray, the first phase of the programme is being done in conjunction with other government agencies, inclusive of the Ministry of Social Services and Community Development, and the Ministry of National Security. 

The initiative is currently being conducted as a pilot project in several areas of New Providence, beginning with the Bahamas Department of Correctional Services, the Ranfurly Home for Children and the Simpson Penn School for Boys.