The construction site of the New Cyprus Museum was inspected by the Minister of Transport and the Deputy Minister of Culture, expressing their satisfaction with the progress of the construction works.
Transport Minister Alexis Vafeades mentioned that there are requests for an extension in the construction of the project due to unforeseen circumstances and spoke about efforts being made to include the maintenance of the building in the contractor’s contract, something that was not initially done.
Lina Kassianidou noted that the concrete columns found during the summer have already been removed.
There was an update from the team representing the state on the progress of the works, on the staffing of the team monitoring the works, on some problems that exist, and how the issue of their resolution is approached to meet the schedule.
“It is a project of which we are all very proud and we are closely monitoring it to ensure that it will progress according to the schedules and the requirements of the contract to be delivered as soon as possible,” emphasized Vafeades, expressing confidence that the New Cyprus Museum “will be a jewel for our country.”
According to the Minister of Transport, the issue of requests for minor extensions is managed by the competent committee according to state procedures and will be resolved soon.
Additionally, the need for more excavations and the detection of more water in the subsoil was highlighted. “These issues have created additional work, but the competent committee will judge whether this has caused delays or whether parallel works should be carried out to avoid delay.”
The additional works entail some increase in costs, the amount of which will be estimated by state experts.
This is a project from the state budget with a total cost estimated at around €140 million, but this does not include the ten-year maintenance.
“We cannot accept a building and not include maintenance. When there is a need for maintenance, better work is done, which reduces the cost of maintenance,” noted the Minister.
Furthermore, he said, “We always apply the obligation of maintenance in contracts to ensure better work.” In this case, maintenance was not included. “It is something we are considering and want to include as an additional obligation,” he said.
On her part, the Deputy Minister of Culture assured that the issue of the concrete columns found during the summer has been resolved since they have already been removed.
She expressed satisfaction with the cooperation of the Department of Public Works with the contractor. “It is one of the largest projects undertaken,” she pointed out.
Meanwhile, the Department of Antiquities is preparing for the completion of the project, preparing the exhibits, texts, and digital applications, so that when the building, which is only a part of the Museum, is completed, we will have 18 months to bring the objects and open the Museum.
