Tower completion delayed further
THE construction of the FHL Tower in central Suva will not be completed next month as earlier planned by its proprietor Fijian Holdings Ltd.
The company’s newsletter released this week stated “significant progress” being made and “to date, 75 per cent of the project has been successfully completed, with a notable 90 per cent of the building’s exterior, or façade, already procured and installed.”
“In addition to the exterior work, the installation of essential services within the building has progressed nicely,” FHL stated of progress made.
“These services, which are crucial for the building’s functionality and safety, include fire services, hydraulics, mechanical services, elevators, as well as electrical, data, and communication systems, with 70 per cent of these installations already in place.”
However, no timeline was given on when construction of Tower, which began in 2018, would be finished.
had been reliably informed early this year that COVIDrelated cost variation claims to the tune of more than half the initial cost of the project had been at the heart of contention between FHL and China Railway First Group, its main contractor for the project.
Claims were made that China Railway was deliberately dragging its feet on completion of the project when FHL refused its demands and the two parties were still negotiating the issue in January.
Initially a $65million project, the 17-storey tower is FHL’s “single largest investment” that was envisaged to be completed in April this year, according to its 2023 annual report.