Although Mainzeal Property and Construction Company has gone into receivership, authorities at the Manukau Institute of Technology (MIT) are confident that their new Campus would be ready for use in early 2014.
Work on the $95 million Campus, a partnership between MIT and Auckland Transport came to a halt last month with the appointment of PricewaterhouseCoopers (PWC) Partners Colin McCloy and David Bridgman as Receivers to Mainzeal, following a request lodged by its Director Richard Yan to BNZ.
PWC suspended work on all Mainzeal sites and announced on February 11 that a number of the construction company’s staff were made redundant to reduce cash said operating costs.
Mr McCloy said that his firm was in talks with ‘some parties interested in buying the business and assets’ of Mainzeal.
Institute confident
The $95 million Manukau Campus of MIT is a partnership between the institution and Auckland Transport to provide a modern and future-proofed tertiary educational facility and an integrated bus and train station.
MIT Chief Executive Peter Brothers said that he and his staff were working closely with PWC to get the project back on track.
He said that MIT was still enrolling students for all its 2013 programmes and that the Mainzeal receivership would not affect students.
MIT’s focus continues to be on providing high quality technical and applied qualifications leading to employment, he said.
“The six-storey Campus will house up to 5000 students and 120 staff, mainly from MIT’s Faculty of Business. It will also feature retail and commercial outlets, a 250-seat theatre above the Manukau Transport Exchange,” Dr Brothers said.
MIT continues to meet the needs of its 18,000 students across its campuses throughout Auckland, he added.
“We offer new and improved programmes tailored to suit the needs of both students and employers and allowing for ‘earn while you learn’ part-time study, as well as full-time study options. This includes all new programmes at our Faculty of Business,” Dr Brothers said.
