Jetty contractor hits rough patch

The $25 million refurbishment of the Busselton Jetty will be the subject of an urgent meeting between the Busselton Shire Council and the administrators appointed to oversee contractor, Marine and Civil who went into voluntary administration yesterday.

Shire council CEO Mike Archer said he would ask for the jetty project to be considered as a stand alone project when administrators were appointed later today, to ensure the 85 per cent-completed refurbishment would meet its completion schedule.

Council staff were made aware of the contractor’s problems yesterday morning when sub-contractors and local businesses contacted them and met with Marine and Civil’s regional and project managers yesterday afternoon.

Mr Archer said the shire council had paid $20.8 million to the contractor to date, and on time.

Marine and Civil Construction Company, marine infrastructure specialists, was awarded the jetty contract in May 2009, at the time for an amount of $27.1 million.

The State Government funded $24 million to the project, to be managed by the South West Development Commission.

Marine and Civil and the South West Development Commission were contacted for comment.

Full report of the outcome of this story in Friday's Busselton Dunsborough Times.