$2.1M reconstruction of Petrotrin’s property

Petrotrin is spending $2.1 million to reconstruct the property owned by the company and occupied by the Executive Chairman, Malcolm Jones. This was revealed by Minister in the Ministry of the Finance, Ken Valley in response to a question in the House of Representatives on Friday. Valley said Petrotrin began a programme of rehabiliating several of its residential properties, including that of the Executive Chairman in 2002. He added that refurbishment work, which began in May 2002,  involved the virtual reconstruction of the property, given the state of deterioration. Noting that there was no substantial renovation of the property, since 1965, Valley stated that because of the size of the property, the nature of the work and the age of the residence this figure was considered reasonable. 

The property consist of the main building of 3,161 square feet, with surrounding buildings — a porch and garage- of 4,578 sq feet and a swimming pool of 1,040 sq feet. Total square footage of the refurbished building is 8,779 square feet, Valley said. He said it was only after the work began that the extent of the repairs were discovered. He said Alvin Dorset was chosen as the main contractor, with the Contractors and Decorators Ltd as the prime sub-contractors. He said the main contractor used other sub-contractors for a whole range of activities. Neither came from Petrotrin’s list of registered contractors because a category which make provisions for architects associated with contractors such as Alvin Dorset, Valley said. The property was awarded by the Property Management Department of Petrotrin, he said. But UNC MP Roodal Moonilal later stated that the property was refurbished at a cost of $500,000 in 2001.