A merger between two government quangos close to two years in the making is close to completion.

Lieutenant-Colonel David Burch, the Minister of Public Works, provided an update on the West End Development Corporation and Bermuda Land Development Corporation amalgamation in the House of Assembly this morning, where he revealed a delay in legislative amendments necessary to complete the amalgamation.

The dissolution of the BLDC was announced last March.

Colonel Burch said: “Let me start off by saying nothing in government moves fast.

“Almost two years ago in July 2022, I announced the intention to amalgamate the BLDC and Wedco. From a business perspective, this makes complete sense since these two quangos share similar objectives, mandates, skills, accounting procedures and staffing levels.

“While it was the full intention for this initiative to be completed by January 2024, and I must clarify that operationally, this target has been met. The company is fully ready to complete this transition.

“However, there has been a delay regarding the legislative amendments needed to complete the project.”

He noted that owing to staffing challenges within the Attorney-General’s Chambers, the Bill to complete the merger has not been finalised. As such, the transition teams are currently in a holding pattern until this portion was completed.

“I repeat what I said in July 2022, ‘We have got to find a better and quicker way to make progress going forward’.”

Since Colonel Burch’s announcement in 2022, a new identical collective bargaining agreement has been created and implemented for both entities, while job description reviews and internal policy assessments have been completed, and liquidators appointed.

Servers and software have been merged and the chief financial officer at Wedco is doing the job at both organisations.

A joint marketing strategy has been established, while an asset and liability schedule is compiled.

Colonel Burch added: “The merger team stands ready to complete the consolidation once the necessary legislative requirements are concluded.

“The final process after legislative approval is estimated to take an additional six months based on specific steps laid out for closing a company in accordance with the Companies Act 1981.”