Six contracts were signed yesterday for the rebuilding of the St. George’s High School, Company Path which was destroyed by fire in July 2022.
The school is expected to be completed in five to seven months and will feature several fire prevention mechanisms, a release from the Ministry of Education said.
The fire prevention components of the school include fire escape stairs, escape doors, fire alarms, fire extinguishers, limited timber usage, metal ceilings and fire-retardant panels. The project consultant is Origin Investment.
Permanent Secretary of the Ministry of Education, Alfred King stated that the total project cost is $253.8m. Similar to the approach being used to rebuild the Christ Church Secondary School, the project has been divided into lots to be executed simultaneously by different contractors.
According to the release, King said that the school will be a two-storey building oriented with a panoramic view of the lower flat. The upper flat will feature 12 classrooms. The lower flat will accommodate six laboratories including the Information Technology, Home Econo-mics and Industrial Technology laboratories.
The lots and contractors are as follows:
Lot -1 Construction of Super Structure – BM Property Investment Inc. – $113,943,900.00
Lot -2 Block Works – BM Property Investment Inc. – $59,989,500.00
Lot -3 Plumbing Works – A. Ograsein & Sons General Contracting – $9,651,970.00
Lot -4 Electrical Works – Cummings Electrical Company Ltd. – $18,720,592.00
Lot -5 External Works – Superior Supplies & General Construction – $22,472,560.00
Lot -6 Finishing Works – Superior Supplies & General Construction – $29,052,600.00
Minister of Education, Priya Manickchand witnessed the signing in the ministry’s boardroom and said that the Georgetown Education District had serious space constraints before the fires that destroyed the St. George’s High School, the North Ruimveldt Secondary School and Christ Church Secondary. She said that with the destruction of those schools, the situation worsened. She said that during the five years of the APNU+AFC Administration, no secondary school was started and completed. As such, she said that a lot of the space issues are now being addressed.
She noted that contracts were signed on Wednesday to reconstruct the Christ Church Secondary School and that soon contracts will be signed to rebuild the St. Mary’s High School. Along with the reconstruction of the North Ruimveldt Secondary School, the St. Rose’s High School, extensions at Queen’s College, the Bishops’ High School, the East Ruimveldt Secondary School and the St. Winefride’s Secondary School, the space issues in the Georgetown District will be addressed.
She added that the completion of the Good Hope Secondary School will address space issues along the East Coast while the completion of the Yarrowkabra Secondary School will address the said issue for the Upper East Bank Demerara area.
“So, it’s a massive programme to get secondary schools up and running and as it is exciting it is equally worrying because we are depending on so much; on people who are signing contracts with us, honouring their duties and responsibilities under those contracts. So, the Government is clear. Our intention is clear. We want children in schools. We want to build schools,” Manickchand stated.
