Good Hope Secondary School Project’s delay is unacceptable - Minister Priya

Good Hope Secondary School Project’s delay is unacceptable – Minister Priya

Aug 22, 2020 News

Sections of the school being constructed

Manickchand touring the construction site

Minister of Education, Priya Manickchand has stated that the long delay of the Good Hope Secondary School project is unacceptable. This comes after the Minister paid a visit to the school’s construction site to assess its progress.
The construction of the school fell under a multimillion dollar project funded by the World Bank. The Guyana Secondary School Education Improvement Project (GSEIP) aimed to build two new secondary schools: the Westminster Secondary School in La Parfaite Harmony and the Good Hope Secondary School on the East Coast of Demerara.

Manickchand touring the construction site

Permanent Secretary of the Ministry of Education, Adele Clarke had announced in 2018 that a US$4,082,506.80 contract for the construction of the Good Hope Secondary School was awarded to BK International Inc.
Project Coordinator of the GSEIP, Jimmy Bhojedat had stated that the school was supposed to be completed in 15 months; however during her site visit, Manickchand was told by technical experts that the project might not see completion until next May. The Minister noted that it is “wholly unacceptable” and that people who bid for contracts and win them must ensure that they do what they have to do to realize the terms they have signed in the contract.”She also gave a stern warning to contractors saying that the MOE and the Government of Guyana will not be tolerant of projects extending way beyond their time. According to Manickchand, the People’s Progressive Party/ Civic (PPP/C) had designed the project and secured funds since 2014.

She further added that the project should have been completed by January 2020 and its incompletion has hampered hundreds of students from reaping the benefits of the project. The Minister also expressed zero tolerance for contractors seeking to blame the school’s incompletion on COVID-19, as the pandemic would have started until after January 2020 when the project was expected to be completed.
The Ministry of Education’s Public Relations Department stated that the school is intended to accommodate approximately 800 students. It will contain an IT lab, several technical vocational labs, a multi-purpose hall, and a modern library. It will also see 26 classrooms and an extensive focus on the Sciences and Technical Education.
Minister Manickchand also expressed that she remains committed to seeing the completion of the school and is wholesomely looking forward to hundreds of students benefiting from that project and the many more her administration has in store.
Just recently the Ministry of Education published a notice inviting bids from contractors for the construction of various things under the Guyana Skills Development and Employability Project. They also stated that they have received US$12,606,000 from the Caribbean Development Bank (CDB) which will be allocated to its cost.

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