Agriculture and Rural Development Minister Michelle O’Neill announced that QMAC Construction Ltd has been awarded the contract to build the new modern offices for Rivers Agency at Loughry Campus Cookstown, Co Tyrone.
The offices will accommodate up to 85 workstations.The construction contract is the next step in the process of relocating Rivers Agency from Belfast to Cookstown.
Announcing the award of the contract Minster O’Neill said: “I am pleased to announce that the contract to construct the new Rivers Agency Headquarters building at Loughry Campus in Cookstown has been awarded to QMAC Construction Ltd.
“This new building represents a significant financial investment of £2m in the Cookstown area by my Department and will see the relocation of up to 85 public sector jobs to a rural setting.
“Construction will take approximately 13 months and staff should be ready to move into their new fit for purpose modern accommodation towards the end of summer 2016.
“The award of this contract is a significant milestone in the Rivers Agency relocation project and the wider DARD programme to redistribute public sector jobs across the north.The wider programme, which recently saw the relocation of Fisheries Division to Downpatrick, will see Forest Service move to Enniskillen before the end of this year and the rest of my department relocating to Ballykelly in two phases in 2017 and 2020.”