$688.1M in contracts signed to rebuild Christ Church School

Jun 08, 2023 News

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Kaieteur News – Having been completely destroyed by a fire back in January, the Government will now be rebuilding the Christ Church Secondary School to the tune of $688.1 million.

On Wednesday, the Ministry of Education signed seven contracts at its Brickdam office for the reconstruction of the school. The new structure, according to the ministry will be built at the same location and is expected to be finished in seven months as per the contract.

Minister of Education, Priya Manickchand at the signing ceremony stated that the reconstruction will not be undertaken by one contractor. She said that the project was divided into seven lots and companies were invited to bid for each lot. That invitation for bids was published in March 2023. She said that there is a consultant on the project who was also selected following a competitive bidding process. That consultancy firm is Innovative Engineering Consultancy Services.

The seven lots and companies awarded are as follows: Lot -1 Construction of Sub-Structure – BM Property Investment Inc. ($303,595,000.00); Lot -2 Super-Structure – Zeco Group of Services Inc. ($295,137,706.00); Lot -3 Installation of Electrical Infrastructure & Fixtures – N. Balgobin & Sons Contracting Service & Electrical Supplies ($41,938,500.00); Lot -4 Installation of Plumbing Infrastructure and Fixtures – BM Property Investment Inc. ($17,600,000.00); Lot -5 Installation of Air Conditioning Infrastructure and Units – A. Ograsein & Sons General Contracting ($10,745,000.00); Lot -6 Installation of Fire Prevention Units – A. Ograsein & Sons General Contracting ($6,759,000.00); and Lot -7 Masonry and Finishing Work – Pantheon Construction Inc. ($12,385,800.00).

The minister added that after the destruction of the school by arson, the children have been accommodated at the Cyril Potter College of Education. She said that she is grateful to the teachers who rose to the challenge led by their headteacher and deputy headteacher who were able to produce and perform as though they were under familiar circumstances.

The Education Minister explained to the contractors and the consultant that this project is very important to the Ministry. She reminded them to be aware of the penalties that can be activated if there is a failure to deliver on their contractual obligations.

Meanwhile, Special Projects Officer at the Ministry, Ron Eastman detailed that the new Christ Church Secondary School building will feature fire prevention and retardant mechanisms and components. Some of these include but are not limited to fire extinguishers, smoke detectors, and some materials that will be used that are not highly flammable. Permanent Secretary of the Ministry, Alfred King added that among the seven lots which the project has been divided into, there is a dedicated lot that deals with the installation of fire prevention units as recommended by the Guyana Fire Service.

The ministry explained that the new building will measure 209 feet x 70 feet and will have 20 classrooms to accommodate 450 to 520 students. The school will also feature all the science laboratories, TVET laboratory, electrical and Woodworking laboratory, Information Technology laboratory, Home Economics laboratory, and Art and Music rooms.

While delivering remarks, Minister Manickchand also mentioned that before September 2023, the construction works at Queen’s College, The Bishops’ High School, St. Rose’s High School, Good Hope Secondary School, Yarrowkabra Secondary School, Abrams Zuil Secondary School, East Ruimveldt Secondary and St. Winefride’s Secondary will be completed. She said that the North Ruimveldt Secondary School should be completed by October 2023.

Kaieteur News had reported that on January 12, 2023, the 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.”

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• Burning, Christ Church Secondary School, contract signed, education, reconstruction

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