A contract for the design of a Hospitality Institute, which will provide top-notch technical and supervisory industry training locally, was yesterday signed between the Minis-try of Education and architecture firm, Deen and Partners.
A release from the Ministry of Education stated that the institute, which will be constructed to the tune of US$250,953 ($50m) , will mimic a four-star hotel, with provisions for fine dining, banquet halls, classrooms, and recreational facilities such as swimming pools and a tennis court.
A site at Providence has been identified as the proposed location.
The school’s development will facilitate industry level hospitality training that will rival that existing in the rest of the Caribbean region, the release stated, noting that the institute will prepare citizens to command technical and supervisory level positions in the emerging industry, and to utilise the skills they acquired in the more mature regional tourism market.
The ministry reported that the contract for the project, which is being undertaken by Deen and Partners in association with Consulting Engineers Partnership Ltd (CEP) and Leverage Consulting Limited, was signed in the boardroom of the Ministry of Education’s 26 Brick-dam Office yesterday, by the Permanent Secretary of the Ministry of Education, Adele Clarke and Deen Kamaludeen, Principal of Deen and Partners. Also attending the signing ceremony was the Chief Education Officer, Marcel Hutson.
The project’s design phase is estimated to span five months.
Kamaludeen said that his team will deliver all that is required within the timelines and expressed confidence that the final product will be of a high standard. He related that one of the partners was previously involved in building a similar hospitality institute in St. Vincent.
The release noted that the project falls under the Guyana Skills Development and Employability Project (GSDEP), with funding having been secured from the Carib-bean Development Bank.
Coordinator of GSDEP, Theron Siebs, explained that the project is being executed in response to the growing demands in the hospitality sector. He said that the institute will be the first of its kind in Guyana, the ministry reported.
Minister of Education, Dr. Nicolette Henry, noted that the project is of importance, particularly with the increase in persons coming to the country as a result of the developing oil and gas sector.
