MercoPress. South Atlantic News Agency

Falklands Tussac House again delayed and no residents move in until New Year

The Tussac House project for assisted living

The Falkland Islands Public Works Department has announced that the handing over of Tussac House, the sheltered homes project, has been delayed again. The handover to the Health Directorate should have happened mid-November but is delayed due to mechanical and electrical issues.

Director of Health Jon Woollacott told the Health and Medical Services Committee that they are still expecting a handover before Christmas, however residents wouldn’t move in until the New Year.

The West Wing of the building is complete, and the East Wing is being finished off. Landscaping of the surrounding gardens is progressing well. Nevertheless the PWD and RSK Falklands Limited have advises that there will be a diversion in place on the Heritage Footpath at Tussac House between from Friday 22 November and Monday 9 December 2024.

Anyhow it is expected that there will be a ‘show flat’ available for the public to view and staff to discuss the provisions available. In the meantime, the Directorate is making the final preparations necessary to enable the move-in to take place, including the plan to re-locate the kitchen from the King Edward Memorial Hospital to Tussac House.

Because of the pandemic, inflation and over costs, the building project contract awarded to RSK Falklands Limited, originally was worth £11.675m and anticipated that the construction work would be completed by April 2023. However last June/July the Executive Council agreed to allocate additional funds, since works were repeatedly delayed, given the backlog of major projects in the pipeline. .