The new Parliament is expected to be completed in March, the House Business Committee was told this evening.

Stefan Zrinzo Azzopardi, chairman of the Grand Harbour Regeneration Committee (GHRC) which is responsible for the project, gave a presentation of the project and the remaining works,

He said that in the Office Block, work on level three including the offices of the Speaker and his team would be completed by end of February.

Levels one and two including the ministerial offices would also be completed in February.

With regard to the ground floor, some work needed to be redone but had now been approved and the contractors expected work to be completed on February 28. Indeed, only a little work remained to be done.

Work on the goods lift and emergency exits would be completed by around mid-February. 

The lower ground floor, including offices of parliamentary support staff would also be concluded by February 28 or earlier. The outstanding work was the installation of 'modesty panels' which were ordered late. Installation of fire doors and other furniture would be completed in the next couple of weeks. 

Dr Zrinzo Azzopardi said work on the problematic stonework on the façade was now complete other than some pointing on which work would start this week. By early February Ordnance Street would be reopened.

The handing over of the office block to the GHRC would gradually start in the coming weeks.

Dr Zrinzo Azzopardi said the biggest challenges were in the Chamber Block were quite some work remained to be done.

Delays had been caused because of changes to the size of the desks. The desks were now being altered by their manufacturers in Italy and would be sent back to Malta on January 23. 

It had originally been planned for the desks to be supplied at the beginning of January. As a result of the delay, some works, such as the installation of audio equipment had to be postponed until the desks were in place.

The installation of the desks would take three days, after which the audio equipment would be installed, followed by testing and commissioning of the sound and voting systems, a process of some four to five weeks.

Testing was already under way on air-conditioning and other system. 

Some work remained to be made on the media section, and the Strangers' Gallery but that too would be completed by the end of February.

Dr Zrinzo Azzopardi said the hand-over of the various zones would start on February 7 followed by the migration in various stages.

The whole process would be completed by the end of March, which was the target, Dr Zrinzo Azzopardi said. However there were some risks, with much hinging on when the desks for the Parliament Chamber were delivered and the installation, testing and commissioning of the sound and voting system, Dr Zrinzo Azzopardi said. 

Infrastructure Minister Joe Mizzi said the final cost of the project was estimated to be €45 million, or 50% more than the original estimate. 

Replying to questions by Mario de Marco (PN), he said that as minister, he could not give a date when Parliament would move to the new building. The timelines were those set by the contractors. It was worth remembering that the original completion date was March 2012, by which time only 35% of the project was completed. 

This government had introduced penalties and was insisting that the new timelines be observed. Indeed good progress was being made.

The Speaker, Anglu Farrugia, said a date for the migration of the House would be set closer to the date when the commissioning process was well in hand.