Jewel overhaul fallout

Tower demo work double-edged sword for crew

WORKERS on the $1 billion beachfront Jewel towers say a big interior demolition job is a double-edged sword for them.

On one hand, some construction staff are off work while prices are finalised for demolition and refits involving hotel bathrooms, a day spa and a conference centre.

But the looming overhaul — revealed in yesterday’s Bulletin — will also mean months of extra work, and crew welcome it as it is a well-paying job.

Hundreds of hotel bathrooms in the middle tower on the Surfers Paradise coastline are being ripped up and redone, the Bulletin has revealed.

A day spa with plumbing set into a southern tower concrete slab is also being torn up.

It will be relocated to the northern tower, swapping places with under-construction conference rooms and viceversa, sources have said.

A site worker said crew working on the middle tower were having to find other work in the meantime while the bathroom demo is priced and new materials confirmed.

“All work on that has ceased until the new prices are all ticked off and then those boys will be back on site.”

Some staff were lucky they were working for a company which had jobs at other sites to transfer too, the worker said. But others had to suck it up. “The overhaul is putting people off because of the wait.”

A source said six-day weeks and extra hours would result.

“... which is good, it is a good-paying job to be on.”

Wuhu Group is the new owner of Jewel as of last week.

Wuhu head honchos wanted the hotel bathrooms redone and spa-conference centre tower swap, sources said.

According to a source, Yuhu Group founder Huang Xiangmo’s son Huang Jiquan, 23, didn’t like the bathroom finish or spa positioning.

Yuhu Group doesn’t deny the overhaul plan and has said it is “committed to delivering only the highest standards of interior fitout and design”.