The GSD have issued a statement calling on Government to state how the works to fit-out Government premises at 80a Queensway are progressing.

A statement from the GSD follows below:

The GSD asks the Government to state how the works to fit-out the premises at 80a Queensway  are progressing. The information reaching the GSD is that little to no advance has been made  in the works which need to be carried out to convert what is a large warehouse at the Dockyard  into office space for various Government departments. 

The public will recall that this was a Government building that had been sold to a private entity  for £7.5M only for the Government to agree to lease it back to the same entity at an overall  cost of more than £22M over 21 years. The deal entered into by the Government means that  the taxpayer is paying approximately £87,000 per month in rent for a property which, bizarrely,  the Government previously owned only to then house 5 Government departments. For all  these reasons, we criticised the deal as not being a good one for the Gibraltar taxpayer. 

Damon Bossino said: “Over the last 2 years the taxpayer has paid in excess of £2m in rent in  circumstances where, it has been reported to the GSD, not one department has as yet moved  in to the promised ‘modern, fit-for-purpose office accommodation’. 

The Government have a lot of explaining to do in relation to this bad deal which is made worse  by the continued failure to occupy the property.”