Local Govt. Ministry inks $69M contract to rebuild burnt wing of Diamond Secondary School

Jun 26, 2022 News

Kaieteur News – The Ministry of Local Government and Regional Development on Thursday signed a contract to rebuild the wing of the Diamond Secondary School which was destroyed by fire in 2018.

The destroyed section of the Diamond Secondary School

The $69,828,367 contract was awarded to Navin and Sons Construction which was among 13 contractors that had submitted bids for the project which was estimated to cost some $75 million.
It should be noted that this is just the first phase of the project which is slated to be completed in two phases – both phases are estimated, by the engineer, to cost $163M.
The reconstruction of the school’s wing comes three years after it was destroyed by a fire in 2018.
Kaieteur News understands that this project will form part of the $6.6 billion that was allocated in this year’s budget for the construction, rehabilitation, extension, and maintenance of educational facilities across the country.
Regional Executive Officer (REO) of Region Four, Donald Gajraj, had told this publication back in March that the wing will be rehabilitated to its previous size.
In an interview with Kaieteur News, headmistress of the school, Ms. Lesmine Collins had related that the school was short on space to accommodate students. This, she said, had been the state of affairs since the fire destroyed the office and staff room areas, forcing her, and teachers, to occupy classrooms. Also destroyed in the fire were the Information Technology (IT) lab and the school’s library.
This newspaper understands that the project, once completed, will also save students from travelling to the National Centre for Educational Resource Development (NCERD) to write their examinations, due to the lack of resources at the school.
The office area of the school was gutted by an early morning fire on Christmas Eve day of 2018. Findings of the investigation determined that the fire was an act of arson.
Last Thursday too, the Ministry awarded 12 other projects worth over $200 million through the Regional Democratic Council (RDC) of Region Four.
The contracts which were signed by REO Gajraj are for the rehabilitation and construction of schools, streets, laboratory, and bonds, among others.
The contracts are as follow: the rehabilitation of Paradise Primary School which is valued at $13,544,440 that was awarded to C. Singh & Sons Construction; the rehabilitation of Enterprise Primary School which was awarded to Abdool General Services for $11,052,952; the construction of Vryheid’s Lust South Nursery School which was awarded to JJ Mining and Construction for $31million; the reconstruction of Haslington Nursery School which was awarded to BDE Recycling for $26 million; the construction of a living quarters at Swann Primary School which was awarded to Ishrie Persaud Contracting & Construction for $13,512,000; the construction of a laboratory at Paradise valued at $16,424,16 that was awarded to Perba Trading and Construction; the construction of a storage bond at the RDC compound that was awarded to Centaur Investment Inc. for $22,893,208; the upgrading of Slaughter House Dam/Street, Mahaica that was awarded to MK Hoosein Contracting for $16,657,700; the extension of the RDC Regional Stores which was awarded to Extreme General & Construction Supplies for $9,448,970; the upgrading of 3rd Street Martyrs, Mon Reposville valued $15,673, 625 that was awarded to Brick and Mortar Construction Services and General Supplies; the upgrading of Nooten Zuil Road valued at $27,811,900 that was awarded to Pooran Manman General Contracting Services; and the construction of a two-storey building within Eccles Health Centre which was awarded to Spectre Construction for $31,450,531.

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