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‘It will be done’: Manickchand vows as Bamia Primary crawls to finish line
Kaieteur News – Minister of Local Government and Regional Development, Priya Manickchand has vowed that the Bamia Primary School will be completed as promised, even as the contractor continues work.
Sections of the new Bamia Primary School, Region 10
The $346 million contract for the school was awarded to St8tment Investment Inc. in November 2021. Since then, the project experienced several delays due to a range of challenges, including labour shortages, increased material costs, and unfavourable weather conditions. The setbacks collectively impacted the original timeline and contributed to extensions; the contractor claimed.
In a Facebook post on Sunday, the Minister said provided an update to her visit to the facility last Sunday, mere hours after she was sworn in as the new Local Government Minister. Her post Sunday read “BAMIA Primary. First week update. It has been one week since we met with the contractors. As I said we are treating and managing this like a project with presence there every day. Things have moved although not at the pace promised. This school WILL finish.”
Last week, Manickchand warned the contractor that the school needed to be completed by October or the work be taken away.
That post was also made on her Facebook page. “Just visited the site of Bamia Primary School just outside of Linden in Region 10 which is being built by the Ministry of Local Govt and Regional Development. This school will be completed and the children will enjoy the benefits that the government intended. No ifs and buts. It will finish. The contractors have been made aware that they either finish the project in accordance with our newly set timelines or someone else will.”
In a separate video post at the school site, the Minister further explained that the school will cater for the entire Bamia catchment area. She explained that primary school students are currently on shift system.
“We can’t continue that. So, we’ve just had a meeting with the contractor and their subcontractors and gone through all the things that need to be done, and we’re going to be putting someone here fully to make sure that these finishing works will be finished, because for the longest while I’ve been reading that they are close to finishing. But I’ve also seen other schools where there isn’t a push, and other buildings that the last leg of finishing takes forever. We can’t afford that here,” she related.
“So, we’re going to make sure we put a project manager on the premises, and run down the things that have to finish. And the contractors have been told that it’s either they finish this or come off the project. So, we’re very clear about what we want for the children who are going to attend here. That’s a serious business for us,” she said.
In 2024, the national assembly approved an additional $127 million towards the completion of the school.
The modern educational building is expected to include 44 classrooms, a fully equipped gymnasium, an auditorium, a science laboratory, a music room, a library, smart classrooms, and modern restroom facilities.
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