Minister of Education Priya Manickchand today warned Courtney Benn Contracting Services Ltd that “tough action” will be taken if the long-stalled rebuilding of the St Rose’s High School does not move forward.
A release today from the ministry said that Manickchand met with the contracting firm and expressed her “deep concern” about the lack of movement the project has experienced for two years.
The contract for the construction of the new building on Church Street was awarded in 2018. Changes were made to the initial design to include a pile foundation, the release noted. However, since the piles were driven, no substantial work has been done at the location by the contractor.
Manickchand said that it is disappointing that the company hasn’t gone anywhere with the construction of the building. According to the release, she said that it is a disservice to the nation’s children that a state-of-the-art building which was scheduled to finish in August 2021 will have to be delayed further due to the contractor not being able to move the project along efficiently.
Manickchand indicated to the Principal of the company, Courtney Benn that the Ministry will have to “make tough decisions regarding the project if his entity does not provide a solution to the current problem”.
The release said that it was also highlighted in the meeting that the principal of the contracting entity is also behind in another project for the Ministry of Education – the dormitory for the Linden Technical Institute. Manickchand said that the Ministry of Education is “not in a position to accept mediocrity in the performance of contracts and has put the contractor on notice for the severe delays in these two important projects”.
The company was also advised that the Ministry will continue to be engaged on the way forward. Also present in the meeting was the Permanent Secretary of the Ministry of Education, Alfred King, Special Projects Officer, Ron Eastman, Technical Officer to the PS, Karen Burch-Smith and engineers from the company.