The government minister in charge of the £25m Douglas promenade refurbishment claims it has been so complex it was ’almost like heart surgery’.

Infrastructure Minister Tim Baker, MHK also said that if he had been in the hot seat since the start of the controversial project ’I would have been very clear with people that this was going to be a painful project.’

He also said that the track works were a ’future-proof’ project, which meant that they could be adapted for trains or trams and not just horse trams.

And he denied that the work on the tracks was a ’vanity project’.

Former backbencher Mr Baker, in his first newspaper interview since he took over the infrastructure role in June after a mini reshuffle, said the plan is to complete the work in time for Easter.

He said: ’The date we are all working to is March 31. The contractor understands that, it is a challenging deadline and they have acknowledged that.’

He insists there has been some real progress on the major project. ’I drive along there most days and we are seeing that progress day by day.

’I agree that timescale is not without challenge but the key thing is making sure the prom is up and available for the tourism season next year.’

Asked how much the project is over budget by Mr Baker explained he was confident the £750,000 allocation in Treasury minister Alfred Cannan’s July Budget statement would be enough.

Mr Baker said: ’We believe we will deliver the scheme within that. There is no indication of any issues with that. The scheme is being delivered by Auldyn Construction.’

Asked about the work on the tracks in the road which have proved to be controversial the Manx Independent asked if they were designed to be rail tracks as well as that of the horse trams.

Mr Baker said: ’I have inherited the design that was signed off and there is an element of future-proofing being built in to the designs so that should a decision be made in the future to, for example extend any rail service down the prom, it would be potentially possible.

’However it is sensible facilitation that is being built in. For example there is ducting to future proof not just that but other elements of the prom.’

He said this would mean the prom would not potentially have to be dug up again in future years.

’It’s that balance between looking forward and trying to predict what might be coming down the line.’

The Department of Infrastructure later confirmed: ’From the inception of the scheme, it was always the department’s intention to future-proof the rail installation by ensuring it could facilitate both the MER rail and modern trams. There were no additional costs associated to this. This was sanctioned by Tynwald when the whole scheme was approved by Tynwald in 2017.’

Asked if the tracks were a vanity project Mr Baker said: ’No, absolutely not.’

’It’s just trying to think ahead, there are no prizes for spending £25million and finding that actually in a few years’ time somebody says it will ’’ease congestion in Douglas if there was a light tram system’’ for instance - it’s that kind of thinking.’

He added: ’My focus is to get the job done.’

The Independent asked Mr Baker if he could start the scheme from scratch what would he have done differently?

He said: ’If I had been the minister through the whole project I would have been very clear with people that this was going to be a painful project.

’I would have made it very clear that we could not keep everybody happy and I would have said that we need to get on with this at pace and accept that it was going to be very disruptive which is where we are now.

’But we have tried to accommodate so many different people it made the job extremely difficult for the contractor.

’The constraints they are under around having to maintain two-way traffic, maintaining the horse tram service in the first year, very restrictive working hours because of the residents on the prom and with visitors, having to maintain services, having to demobilise and then mobilise around the TT and the Festival of Motorcycling.

’People should have realised ... you are digging up a major carriageway in the centre of Douglas, right in the heart of the capital. It’s almost like heart surgery and I think people, for whatever reason, have not understood or accepted the difficulty of the scheme and the impact it was going to have. By spelling that out, I think people get it now and they understand it.’

In his perspective he believed there was not a lot of progress in the early months of the project which was ’frustrating for those who are affected’.

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’I don’t think people mind inconvenience if they can see progress.’

He recently did a ’prom walk’ in which he met business people who had been ’very heavily impacted’ and ’clearly struggling with the effects on their trade’.

But he said: ’They are all saying that they agree with the approach of getting the job done and they can see progress and know it has to be done and they are fine with that.’

Mr Baker was tightlipped about the details of what would happen after midnight on Friday when his department takes over two Douglas car parks from the Corporation which announced it is giving them up. The car parks in question are Chester Street and Drumgold Street.

Meanwhile Mr Baker confirmed that contractors working on the scheme who have come to the island from across wear different coloured hats.

He said: ’It is so that on site it is clear for social distancing purposes to their work colleagues. It is so that there is more distance kept with them because clearly there is more of a potential risk for some of those workers. It is effectively a simple way of identifying whose who and who is what.’