Government yesterday pledged that the delayed new senior school development would be completed by May 21 next year - but students will not occupy the site until September, 2004.

Minister for Works and Engineering Alex Scott said general contractor Pro-Active Management Systems Ltd had promised that the site would be handed over to the Education Ministry by that date - eight months later than planned - with only the gym being finished later in August.

He said Government had now employed the services of US developers the H.R. Lubben Group to act as consultants and advisers for the project and he hoped steps could be taken to finish the $70 million project even sooner.

However, as of yesterday, the Minister said the Lubben Group had not yet surveyed the latest developments on the site and had not yet informed Government whether it believed the May 21 deadline could in fact be met.

The Minister admitted that Pro-Active had worked slowly on the site in Berkeley Road, Pembroke, but he said perhaps the trade off was that the quality of the school was particularly high.

It was supposed to be finished by September this year, but has constantly been behind schedule, leading to claims that the building would be a year late and over budget.

"It should be appreciated that the general contractor can miss the September 4, 2003 deadline and still - according to contract law - be deemed to have delivered the project within a time frame that satisfies the contract; thus my reluctance in the past to publicly discuss any possible change to the September 2003 completion date," said the Minister.

Mr. Scott said the project was only marginally over budget, but he said the Government would be picking up the tab of the Lubben Group.

He said: "Right now, it's going to be Government that is retaining the Lubben Group and as for the cost, as a yard stick, when they came last time, their fee was $14,000 or $15,000 for about a two-week period. I would think they are going to be somewhere in that neighbourhood.

"But it all depends on how long they stay with us. It depends on their findings, their report and how helpful they are. If they are extremely helpful, they may end up staying to the end. But the cost could be assigned to the project - it will not be that large."

Mr. Scott said the Lubben Group was flying into Bermuda yesterday, but he chose to announce the new completion date prior to them visiting and reporting on the site because their recommendations may have taken a further two weeks, and he felt the public should be told immediately.

He said he could not remember whether the Lubben Group, during its last visit, estimated when the project would be finished, but said it had talked of "fast tracking" the work, although no specifics were mentioned.

Insiders on the site have repeatedly told The Royal Gazette that the project would not be finished on time, although Government has previously denied that it was substantially late. And only last month, sources predicted that the school would not be finished and open before September next year.

At that point, Mr. Scott admitted that the development would be late, but said he was talking months and not a year.

Yesterday, he said although the school would not be open until September next year, it was important to differentiate between the completion date in May.

And he said despite the fact that the original completion date was September this year, that did not take into account that Berkeley Institute staff would then need "six months" as a transition period to move in.

So, he said the school was never really set to be open by this September, anyway, despite members of the public being led to believe so.

"If Pro-Active had completed in September 2003, I now appreciate that it does not necessarily mean that it would have been ready to have students in - even if it came in on time," said the Minister.

"Education requires access to the building almost six months earlier and it was never envisaged that six months earlier education would have had access to that project.

"If they had stayed on time, I don't think education would have necessarily wanted to have gone in there while they were in mid-term."

But chief architect Richard James said the Ministry was hoping to be given access to sections of the new school before May 21, so it could begin the transition process gradually.

He said that was what happened with CedarBridge Academy, so furniture could be ordered and delivered. However, he said Pro-Active had still not given the Ministry any firm dates.

Mr. Scott said the massive project produced more than 100 Construction Change Directives (CCDs), which could alter the specifications and time for delivery of a project.

He said mediators would next year consider the CCDs to see if they adversely affected the timing of the project, and, if so, may ultimately give that time back to Pro-Active, thus reducing its time over the original finish date.

And if the mediators rule that CCDs did hamper the cost of the project, and push the price of the work up, then Government could be asked to pay Pro-Active what it is owed.

However, once all of those issues have been assessed, it will then be decided whether the penalty clause on delays and price should be enacted.

Mr. James said yesterday that the contract would have to be looked at at that point, but said it was a possibility that the penalty clause could still implemented.