Almost $1B to rebuild Christ Church Secondary School

May 02, 2023 News

Kaieteur News – The reconstruction and furnishing of the burnt out Christ Church Secondary School would cost Guyana almost $1 billion.

This is according to the opening of tenders on Thursday, during which several projects for the reconstruction of the building were read at the National Procurement and Tender Administration Board (NPTAB) office. The Ministry of Education who is the procuring agency for the project had issued an invitation for bids for contractors and suppliers, seeking them to execute masonry and finishes works on the building, installation of fire prevention units, installation of the air conditioning infrastructure and units, installation of the plumbing infrastructure and fixtures, installation of the electrical infrastructure, construction of the super-structure frame, and construction of the sub-structure and foundation.

During the reading of the bids, it was revealed that the masonry works is estimated to cost $130,977,250, installation of fire prevention units is estimated at $9,821,000, air-conditioned works is estimated at $12,208,000, the plumbing works is estimated at $13,245,000, the electrical works is estimated at $51,800,000, while the construction of the super-structure frame of the building is estimated at $239,644,508 and the construction of the sub-structure is pegged at $ $348,125,283.

: Christ Church Secondary School when it was being destroyed by a fire back in January.

As for the supply and delivery of furniture for the school, a total of four suppliers had bids between the range of $35 million and $51 million for that contract. Kaieteur News understands that the school would be rebuilt at its Camp and Middle Streets, Georgetown location. On January 12, 2023, fire deemed to be as a result of arsonists, gutted the Christ Church Secondary School. This was the second fire at the school in eight days. The first had erupted in the school’s science laboratory and was caused by chemical reaction combustion. Firefighters had saved the building from burning then and had removed all chemicals from the building to prevent a recurrence.

Taking into consideration the time of day that both fires occurred (16:29 p.m. and 17:22 p.m.), coupled with the fact that the second fire had several points of origin (seats), the Guyana Fire Service (GFS) determined that the fire was “maliciously set by person or persons unknown.”

This publication had reported, that on January 16, 2023, the Fire Service disclosed that an electrical inspection was also done at the building and the results have ruled out the possibility that the second fire could have been an electrical one.

Kaieteur News had reported that the massive fire left some 502 students and 39 teachers displaced. The students and teachers of the school are now being accommodated at the Cyril Potter College of Education (CPCE) located at Turkeyen, Greater Georgetown. In terms of funding the cost to rebuild the school, this year the government had allocated some $12.4B for the construction, rehabilitation, extension, and maintenance of educational facilities across the country. During the presentation of this year’s budget, Senior Minister of Finance, Dr. Ashni Singh said that part of the $12.4B will also finance the reconstruction of the St. George’s Secondary, which was also destroyed by a fire.

Below are the companies and their bids:

Reconstruction of Christ Church Secondary School – Masonry and finishes works