The completion date of the Promenade works have been pushed back again - to mid to late August.

The £25m scheme had originally been due to be completed in October 2020 but deadlines have slipped repeatedly.

Infrastructure Minister Tim Baker and his department’s chief executive Nick Black, appearing before a virtual Tynwald scrutiny committee, accepted the most recently announced end date of July would now not be met.

Mr Black said for every week lost during lockdown, ’we have to add a week, plus some more’.

He told the committee: ’Before the current lockdown we were aiming to finish in July and realistically we plan on losing at least one week for each week of lockdown and no activity.

’But there are confusing factors at play. It’s not like locking the door and walking away. There are elements of the groundworks being covered and fencing being erected. That’s not a major issue.

’However the contractor has a significant number of issues in securing labour. So for example some of the gangs are from Romania. They’ve gone back to the UK to work.

’If they come back they will have the isolation processes to go through. They may choose not to come back. This is a complex scheme with complex specialist staff so I’m afraid it isn’t simple.

’If we prudently assume to add a month at the moment we would be looking towards mid to late August.’

Mr Baker was asked about the decision to put to Tynwald in November the elements of the scheme that had been removed from the scope of the contract in the hope of finishing the main project more quickly. These include the single-line extension of the horse tram track from Broadway to the Sea Terminal.

A total of £1.2m has been earmarked in the Budget for the tramway works - but the funding will require Tynwald approval.

Mr Baker said he was committed to completing the extension. ’It was always the intention to come back and do it this coming winter,’ he said.

’The main scheme has of course been delayed. We need to focus on the main job and get that finished and then do what we need to do to deliver the horse tram track element.

’We felt November was the time it would be feasible to do that.’

Committee member Chris Robertshaw queried why, given how the tourist season had been hit yet again by Covid this year, the final section hadn’t simply been ’turned back on again as it was in the original programme and had already been passed by Tynwald once’.

Mr Baker replied: ’The 2020 season had been hugely affected. It was clear to me to get the job done and out of the way.

’With hindsight we’ve had quite a disrupted start to this current year and you look back and say does to matter to get the job done as quickly as we can - I think it does.’

He did not think there would be a significant advantage in linking everything back together due to the short distance between ending the main scheme in August and carrying out the remaining works in the winter.