By Tajeram Mohabir

CULPABLE parties of the defects and delays in the completion of the Kato Secondary School are likely to face sanctions.The school was initially slated for completion in April 2015 but due to inclement weather and other factors as reported by the previous administration, this deadline had to be extended to January

this year. Minister of Communities Ronald Bulkan on Thursday, in response to a question from PPP Member of Parliament (MP) Nigel Dharamlall on when the school will be opened, told the House that the building is in poor shape.
He informed the House that a number of structural defects have been identified on the building, in addition to poor design. According to the minister, an investigation has since been launched into the fiasco, and the outcome of the investigation will determine when the school will be opened.
Supporting his colleague, Ministry of Public Infrastructure David Patterson told National Assembly that an independent assessment done has found that 60 per cent of the building is in defect and another 30 per cent just over the border line.
This, he said will require more money to fix. The initial cost of $728M to build the is expected to jump to $1B when the school is completed and approved for occupation. Former Education Minister Priya Manickchand, under whose watch construction of the school began, inquired from Minister Bulkan if any penalty sanction will be imposed on culpable parties in the construction debacle, to which he hinted in the affirmative.
The minister reminded the House of the ongoing investigation but pointed out that the sloppy work by the contractor is all but just one of the faults with the school. The design, the minister stressed had several flaws and it was approved by the former administration.
WELCOME MOVE
Mrs Manickchand said the Opposition welcomes any penalty applied to those at fault for the construction.
Minister Patterson, who also decried the sloppy construction, said the administration will not allow children to occupy a hazardous building as it wants the Kato Secondary School “to be of value to residents” there.
While as of now it is not clear when the school will be opened, the Government in this year’s budget has budgeted for dietary supplements for students.
Minister Bulkan explained that the provision has been made as the administration anticipates that the school, which is practically completed, will be opened this year, most likely in September.

The Kato Secondary School, a super structure, is being built to cater for the growing hinterland population in that community. Parents, students and teachers of Region Eight had complained of overcrowding and lack of access to secondary education in the region.
According to the Government Information Agency (GINA), the Kato Secondary School is one of the largest infrastructural projects embarked upon by the Ministry of Education in terms of cost.
The school is being built by Kares Engineering Inc and work commenced in 2013.
The previous Government had insisted that all was above board with the cost and the region needed the school as there was severe overcrowding.
The complex when completed will house an administrative block, teachers’ quarters and student’s dormitory complete with dining area, lobby, sleeping area, laundry room, and accommodation for dorm wardens, kitchen, and sanitary facilities.

The school itself will accommodate 12 classrooms, an industrial arts department, canteen, two science laboratories, computer laboratory, home economics and agriculture departments, facilities for differently-able persons, visual arts, sanitary blocks, two multi-purpose rooms, library and research area.
The location of the school in Kato was chosen because of its proximity to a nearby river that flows into a waterfall that will be used to construct a hydroelectric project that will power the community and by extension, the school.