Attorney General Basil Williams has been mandated to review a technical report on the Kato Secondary School project to ascertain if anyone should be held responsible for the many defects found.
This announcement was made by Minister of Natural Resources Raphael Trotman during a post-Cabinet press briefing yesterday.
Trotman noted that on Tuesday, Cabinet received a technical report, which was prepared by Rodrigues Architects Limited, from the Ministry of Public Infrastructure.
The firm, Trotman noted, conducted an audit of the project at government’s request. He informed that the report, which was divided into three sections—structural assessments, building defects and contract administration—highlighted a number of discrepancies in each area.
“Cabinet noted the comments in the report in relation to the designer, the consultants and the contractor of the project as well as the cost of remedial works, if we are to undertake them,” he said, while adding that Cabinet has requested that the Attorney General review the report to determine “culpability and to advise on the appropriate actions to be taken.”
The construction of the school, which was undertaken under the previous government, has been shrouded in controversy. Its price tag started out at around $500M and later went up. This along with the cost of furnishing, lighting, fencing, and security would take the final figure up to around $1 billion. That figure is likely to rise given the amount of remedial works that would need to be done to make the school safe for occupation.
After taking office, the coalition government approved over $55M in contracts for the furnishing of the school, including the student dormitories and the living quarters for teachers.
Kares Engineering had won the contract for the construction of the school, with a bid of $691,972,139, although the original estimate had put construction at $500 million.
In February, opposition parliamentarian Nigel Dharamlall had asked Minister of Communities Ronald Bulkan to say when the school would be opened. The Minister told the National Assembly that the government was “awaiting the findings of a detailed assessment presently being conducted by the Ministry of Public Infrastructure” to make such a determination.
Three weeks ago, Minister of State Joseph Harmon had said that the ministry’s review found that the school was unsafe for children and that remedial work would have to be done.
In light of the recent disclosures of the scale of the defects, an official of Kares Engineering told Stabroek News last week that the firm is being wrongfully blamed and that it had met the required contractual obligations for the original sums provided.
“We were contracted to build the school for $728,165,485, to be completed in two years and we built the school as specified, for the said sum within the timeframe given,” the official said.
Kares Engineering has constructed several schools and the official said it has never had the criticisms received on the Kato project. The schools it has built include Leonora Secondary, Diamond Primary, LBI Secondary, Zeeburg Secondary, Parika/Salem Secondary and others. It is currently constructing the new Smythe Street Nursery School.
