$346M to reconstruct North West Secondary School

Jan 07, 2023 News

Kaieteur News – The reconstruction of the North West Secondary School located in Mabaruma, Region One will cost $346 million. This was revealed by the Ministry of Education during the award of the contract to Aruca Investments on Friday.

The Ministry said that the project is scheduled to be completed in 14 months and the project consultant is Innovative Engineering Services.

The design of what the new school structure would look like when built. (Photos courtesy, Ministry of Education)

Minister of Education, Priya Manickchand said that the quality of work executed on the project will greatly impact the lives of students. As such, she called on the contractor to deliver quality service and complete the project in the agreed time.

The Minister, who was at the time speaking at the signing ceremony, said that since the school was destroyed by fire, the students and teachers have been tremendously inconvenienced.

Minister Manickchand told the contractors and consultant that the completion of the school is not like any other project they have worked on. She explained that the way they approach this project in terms of quality and time taken to complete it can change the lives of the beneficiaries.

Minister of Education, Priya Manickchand overlooking the signing of the contract between the Ministry’s Permanent Secretary, Alfred King and the contractor Aruca Investments.

Moreover, the Minister announced that schools are scheduled to be built at Waramuri, Hosororo and Kwebana, Region One over the next few years.

Permanent Secretary of the Education Ministry, Alfred King said that the rebuilding of the North West Secondary School is a critical component in the Ministry’s efforts to attain Universal Secondary Education (USE).

King said that the Ministry is working on achieving USE and that the reconstruction of the North West Secondary School project is important to achieving that goal.

Meanwhile, Special Projects Officer, Ron Eastman who gave an overview of the project said that after extensive consultations, a design was approved for the new school. The reconstructed North West Secondary School will be a two-storey building with 23 classrooms, three science labs, a sanitary block and an accessible lift.

The North West Secondary School which was destroyed by fire in 2021.

Kaieteur News had reported that on September 25, 2021, the North West Secondary School, a two-storey wooden and concrete building, which measured approximately 150ft. by 200ft., was destroyed by fire.

According to reports, the fire started sometime after 22:00hrs that day. Police ranks who responded did their best to extinguish the blaze but due to the lack of a fire truck in the area, they were unable to save the school. The blaze lasted for hours and was finally extinguished around 02:00hrs the following day.

Over 600 students were housed in the school which consisted of six classrooms, a Science Lab, an office and a Home Economics Department, along with computers, stationery and lab equipment.

The Guyana Fire Service (GFS) had revealed that the fire was an act of arson.