Government House, vacated because of its unsafe condition, will have its grounds kept in order by the Department of Parks in the meantime, the House of Assembly heard.

Lieutenant-Colonel David Burch, the public works minister, added in relation to the main building: “Work will be done to repair it — maybe not this Governor but the next will go back there.”

Rena Lalgie and her staff relocated officially from the building to accommodation in Paget, Government House announced on February 23.

The details emerged during questions from Craig Cannonier, the shadow minister, during the 2024-25 Budget brief.

Colonel Burch said road repairs were “a No 1 issue in the ministry”, with new equipment, as well as a fresh asphalt plant, being purchased now.

He said half of the staff had already been trained for the job.

“I signed today a paper to go to Cabinet to purchase the equipment out of the current budget,” he added.

Along with the new plant comes a new miller to dig up the old asphalt, a paver to press the new surface into place and a machine known as a shuttle buggy to carry a supply of hot asphalt, enabling large sections of road to be resurfaced at a time.

Colonel Burch said that the new equipment should arrive in a matter of weeks, while the new asphalt plant was expected in June or July.

He said it would probably take over the site of the old plant, which he doubted would “ever work again, being realistic”.

Colonel Burch added that the site would be prepared in advance and a contractor assigned to install the new plant to get the job done as quickly as possible.

Among other items, unstable walls and dangerous cliff faces will be tackled with $1.37 million set aside for locations including Scotts Hill Road in Sandys; Middle Road near Leeson Lane in Devonshire; Blackwatch Pass and Cavendish Road in Pembroke; and Scaur Hill in Somerset.

Colonel Burch said he was prepared to go over budget if necessary for public safety.

Replacing the Swing Bridge and Longbird Bridge at the East End will have no impact on traffic, with the existing structures kept open during construction.

He said the Swing Bridge, the priority job, would have a new bridge built to the east, which would require the purchase of “a small piece of property owned by the Bermuda National Trust”.

Colonel Burch also outlined a shuffle of government offices as a prelude to consolidating the island’s courts in the Dame Lois Browne-Evans Building.

He said $3.25 million had been allocated for the “moving and improving” of offices, with the planning department to move permanently from the police and court building to the top floor of the Bermuda Housing Corporation building on Church Street.

“This is part of a series of events that we need to do to eventually get the House of Assembly back into the Sessions House.

“These things must be done first before we can move the Supreme Court to the Dame Lois building.”