The delayed reopening of the Dundee boat ramp has taken place following a more than $12 million upgrade, a boat ramp the former Labor Minister Joel Bowden felt the need to visit during the caretaker period last year before he announced the doubling of the cost of the project seven days later.

The upgrades are comprised of a reconstruction of the groyne to limit the movement of sand, and the construction of a new fishing platform, an accessible footpath, and a walkway jetty structure.

Logistics and Infrastructure Minister Bill Yan said the work would make fishing easier and safer, and would reduce maintenance costs.

“The new facilities will make it easier to load and unload vessels without disrupting ramp access for others,” Mr Yan said.

“The upgraded ramp also features design improvements to reduce sand build up, cutting back on maintenance requirements and maximising ramp availability year round.”

Labor made upgrades to the ramp an election promise in 2020, stating the $7 million cost would include upgrades of the groyne, a footpath, and construction of a pontoon to allow for safer loading and unloading of vessels, with construction supposed to have been finished in mid-to-late 2022.

A new $4.8-million boat ramp at Dundee Beach was finished in late 2016, but by February the next year, anglers and tourist operators were complaining that at times they were unable to use it because it was being covered in sand and vehicles were getting bogged.

Government documents show Advance Civil Engineering started the latest construction on September 2. While Mr Yan said the project was finished on time, when the work began the government said it would take six months to finish, but in June the government said it would be finished by the end of the year.

But in January this year, large concrete slabs from the incomplete structure at the boat ramp were washed away by high tides, and large, sustained ocean swells caused weeks-long construction delays.

The damage bill is unknown and is not included in the $12.44 million Mr Yan gave as the project cost because that was the total cost the Labor government provided in August before construction began.

Ministers have been required to publicly disclose all travel undertaken during the caretaker period, in line with recommendations by the anti-corruption watchdog who investigated Labor and former chief minister Michael Gunner for misusing taxpayer money during the 2020 caretaker period.

Mr Bowden, who was the Infrastructure, Recreational Fishing and Tourism Minister, posted online about his August 6 trip to Dundee Beach for a “stakeholder” meeting with Hospitality NT, and later told the NT Independent he had also visited the boat ramp.

On August 13, Mr Bowden announced there would be $12.44 million spent on the upgrades at Dundee Beach, while revealing the design, but on June 4, he said there was $6.4 million in the budget for the upgrades, with the project due for completion at the end of 2024.

Mr Bowden originally said an “NTG fleet vehicle” was used for his Dundee Beach visits and that it did not cost taxpayers any money.

But faced with questions, it was revealed that he travelled to Dundee Beach Tavern on a bus with Hospitality NT and their national executive, and that his chief of staff Cathy Simmonds drove to Dundee by herself to pick him up and allegedly covered all the fuel costs herself.

“The boat ramp is across the road from the Dundee Tavern, the venue of the meeting, so I walked over and had a look while I was there,” Mr Bowden said.

It was not explained why the Minister did not meet with the Australia Hotels Association members in Darwin, where they were based for days, nor why he did not pay for the fuel himself if he needed to be back in town for a family commitment.