Steno centre costs force project to be reviewed

The Steno centre at the National Hospital will cost far more than initially planned, Kringvarp Føroya reports. The health and energy minister must ask the Faroese Parliament for around 30 million kroner in additional funding, with the project now estimated to cost between 87 million and 95 million kroner.

The centre was originally budgeted at 63 million kroner, including costs that the Novo Nordisk Foundation was expected to cover. That estimate included contingency costs and price indexation.

The plan is to build the Steno centre on top of Building C at the National Hospital.

Two bids were submitted when the construction work was put out to tender. The lower bid was for 67 million kroner, but it did not include contingency costs or price indexation.

The project steering group acknowledges that the original estimate was significantly wrong and that substantially more public funding from the Faroe Islands will be needed. Eyðdis Hartmann Niclasen, the minister for health and energy affairs, says the project will now be reviewed.