Govt. terminates BK contract for Good Hope Secondary School

May 26, 2021 News

The $800M Good Hope Secondary school.

Kaieteur News – The Government of Guyana has terminated the $800M contract of BK International for the construction of the Good Hope Secondary School.
According to a letter signed by Attorney General, Anil Nandlall, SC, and seen by this paper, the contractor has been notified that the Government of Guyana, through the Ministry of Education, has terminated with immediate effect the contract which was executed on October 1, 2018, for the construction of a general secondary school at Lot 2, Good Hope, East Coast Demerara.
The letter – dated May 25, 2021 – noted, that in accordance with the general conditions of the contract, the termination is on the grounds of the fundamental breach of the conditions stipulated by the contract, which includes, but are not limited, to failing to maintain security as required and inordinate delay.
The letter said too, that it is the intention of the Government to institute legal proceedings against BK International to claim compensation and liquidated damages for the breaches.
As such, the contractor was ordered to vacate the construction site immediately as the Permanent Secretary of the Ministry of Education has been instructed to take possession of the premises.
BK International Incorporated had previously committed to completing the $800M Good Hope Secondary School by May 22, 2021. This was following a site visit that was conducted by the Minister of Education, Priya Manickchand, last month.
During her recent visit, she had stressed that the completion of the school was important to Region Four, particularly the students living in communities like Paradise, Plaisance, Enmore and Good Hope along the East Coast of Demerara. During the recent visit to the Good Hope School, BK’s Chief , Ganesh Sawh, informed the Education Minister that the majority of the works left to be completed on the school are electrical in nature.
The contract for the construction of the state-of-the-art school was awarded to the company in October 2018. The works started that very month and a January 2020 deadline was given. However, 15 months later, the school was still incomplete.
The school’s construction is part of the World Bank-funded Guyana Secondary Education Improvement Project (GSEIP), which aims to aid the achievement of universal secondary education, in keeping with modern standards. The GSEIP caters for the construction of three schools: the Good Hope Secondary School, the Westminster Secondary School and the Prospect Secondary School. Upon its completion, the Good Hope School is expected to house 1,000 students and will have features similar to those at the recently completed Westminster School.

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