The ministry extended the deadline for the completion of the hall in Králův Dvůr

Králův Dvůr - The Ministry of Finance has approved the request of Králův Dvůr in the Beroun region and extended the deadline for the completion of the multipurpose sports hall until August 31 of next year. The company Formatech, which is constructing the hall, will not be able to finish the project in the original time frame, and not extending the deadline would jeopardize the allocation of state funding. The representatives of the six-thousand-strong town criticize the approach of the city leadership and the increase in construction costs of the hall. This is reported by the Berounský deník.
"We will complete the construction of the hall within the given deadline," promised, according to the newspaper, Josef Laun, the owner of Formatech, to the representatives.
The fifteen-month delay in the completion of the hall, according to Laun, was caused by the delay in funding for its construction, the harsh winter two years ago, and the hurricane Kyrill, which damaged the roof at the beginning of the year.
Opposition representatives point out that the company completed the roof repairs in July, but construction work continues to stagnate. The company, which had to take out a bridging loan of 12 million crowns, admitted to financial problems.
The opposition representatives did not manage to achieve a public discussion of the contract for the construction of the hall. "The contract for the work is a commercial matter and I, as a contracting party, do not agree with it," stated Laun.
Formatech won the tender in 2004 with the lowest bid of approximately 45 million crowns. According to Králův Dvor mayor Karel Mencl, however, the construction of the hall will cost approximately 60 million crowns, with half of this amount expected to be obtained by the town from state funding.
If Formatech does not complete the work by August 31, 2008, according to an addendum to the original contract with the town, it must reimburse the town in full for all costs and damages.
According to the website of the Civic Association Králův Dvůr, the town has already paid over 25 million crowns for the unfinished part. Its members are dissatisfied that most representatives approved an increase in costs for additional work by more than five million crowns. They also point out that the Supreme Audit Office found that the City Office of Králův Dvůr violated the law when awarding the public contract for the construction of the sports hall. According to the office spokesperson Radka Burketová, the town awarded the public contract to a bidder who did not provide the documents and information about their qualifications to the extent required by law.