Renovations on the dilapidated building of the Santa Rosa Primary School in Region One have not commenced due to the need for the Roman Catholic Bishop to grant permission for the construction.
This newspaper yesterday spoke to the Regional Chairman, Brentnol Ashley, who informed that the renovations to the building mainly rest upon the Bishop’s permission and not of that of the $18 million contract.
“It’s much more than the contractor constructing a building at the Santa Rosa Primary, we have a whole lot of issues surrounding it because the land on which the school is on belongs to the Roman Catholic Church and there is a procedure that we are right now following, seeking permission from the Bishop to do the necessary construction… even if we have to do a repair to the school or renovation and so forth we have to go through this process of seeking permission, so that also keeps back the process from going forward.”
Asked what may be the delay in the Bishop granting permission, Ashley said that although in the past the Bishop would have approved some works to be done, the delay as of now is due to the fact that a formal meeting has not yet been arranged between the church members, the Bishop, and the regional and educational authorities.
“In the past the church would have assisted but I believe what they would like is for the rightful authorities, like us of the Region and the Ministry of Education to write them formally and have formal discussions with them seeking permission, even though the school was on this land for decades now, it suddenly starts to pose a problem,” the Regional Chairman explained.
The pupils of the primary school are currently attending classes using a shift system which puts them at a disadvantage, since it prevents them from doing a full day’s work. Ashley noted that in order to deal with that situation, a tarmac was in the process of being constructed when the region was informed that they had to desist from doing so until permission was granted by the Bishop.
“In the interim we have also written to the Roman Catholic Bishop and we have dispatched those letters to seek permission to have a tarmac constructed between the two main buildings which will have tents that will be used as temporary classrooms to deal with the overcrowding, however we are still awaiting permission because we had started the work and then we were told by the church leader in Santa Rosa that the work has to stop and it cannot continue until we get permission from the Bishop.”
He said that due to the influx of pupils from the Santa Rosa Village, the region and the ministry are in talks concerning a search for an entirely new plot of land to construct a more modern school that will be able to accommodate a maximum number of pupils from Santa Rosa and other nearby areas.
“The overcrowding is caused by the influx of additional children which will lead to an extension of the school, as a result of that the Minister of Education and the Region is currently working to engage the Toshao and Village Council as to finding land to construct a new school that will cater for the majority of the children that comes from the other areas of the Santa Rosa village…we’re proposing that assiduously for 2023 or to approach for funding to get that resolved as early as possible.”
Stabroek News had previously spoken with Maurice Torres, a Senior Councillor of the Santa Rosa Village and Secretary of the Parents Teachers Association of the Santa Rosa Primary school where he had noted that an $18 million contract was offered to a contractor who subsequently turned it down as there were claims that the money was insufficient for the renovation of the debilitated building.
When the Regional Chairman was asked about the contract and if efforts were made to award the contract to another contractor, or if the sum was increased for the project, he replied that he was aware of a contract to renovate the school, however he was not aware of the exact amount and what had happened to the contract. For that information he stated that he would have to consult the Region’s Tender Board.
