After a year and a half of extensive work, one of the most distinctive modern buildings on the Roseau skyline is nearing completion. Shanghai Construction Group is wrapping up work on the new State House project.
The project which involves a residence for the country’s head of state, administrative offices, a utility building, an electoral office and car park facilities is now ninety percent complete and is expected to be handed over to Government by May of next year.
Project Manager for the State House Project, Meng Shuang Nai speaking through an interpreter, Sammy Ye who is also Marketing Manager, says work is now being done on completing external walls surrounding the building along with other cosmetic work.
“You can see now we started landscaping and doing external wall work, we have finished about 85% and the road, we have finished around 60 % [of that] so that is the current situation of this project.”
Also forming part of the new State House project is the renovation of the old State House building which will be converted into a conference centre to host regional and international guests.
We were told that physical work on that phase of the project will commence soon.
“The older State House because the Government and the supervisor engineer requested [a] different version, we have not started yet, but we will start that soon because the other design and drawing have already been confirmed. We wanted our client- the Dominica Government to be happy so we will make sure the older State House is the perfect project so I think in the future, we will finish that nicely and it will be a historic site.”
In addition to other interior fixes such as increasing entertainment space and improving overall functionality, the exterior of the old State House building will also be modernized to compliment the aesthetics of the new State House building.
The new State House project, according to Prime Minister Hon. Roosevelt Skerrit, when complete will signify Dominica’s growth and pride for its people as an independent nation.
The project costing EC $27 million is being financed through grant funds provided by the Government of the People’s Republic of China.