CHIEF Education Officer (CEO), Marcel Hutson, has disclosed that remedial works on the Kato Secondary School, Region Eight ( Potaro/Siparuni) should be done in time for the new school term, in September.
Hutson, according to the Department of Public Information/Government Information Agency (DPI/GINA), said, “The situation is our children are overcrowded and we need to have that school up and running by September for maximum impact.”
Meanwhile, on Monday during a hearing of the Public Accounts Committee (PAC), Permanent Secretary (PS) of the Ministry of Education, Vibert Welch, said an assessment of what needs to be done to ensure completion will occur this week.
He was at the time providing an update on the state of affairs relative to the Secondary School. Welch said the contractor, Kares Engineering Inc., who is responsible for the inferior works done on the school is scheduled to travel to Region Eight with a consultant to conduct the assessment.
“We’re at the stage where the contractor has agreed to undertake all the remedial works but there is the consultant to do a reassessment to date,” said the PS.
The Ministry of Public Infrastructure (MPI) has since retained the services of an independent consultant from Guyana Association of Professional Engineers (GAPE), to detail the works needed to be done. The consultant was identified in February, when the Ministers of Public Infrastructure, Education and Social Cohesion visited the school to conduct an assessment.
The $1B Kato Secondary School was built under the People’s Progressive Party (PPP) administration to facilitate students in the region who travel long distances to access secondary level education. However, due to the substandard work done by the contractor it has not been occupied.
The contract for the construction of the Kato Secondary School received Cabinet’s no objection on December 27, 2012 and was awarded by the National Procurement and Tender Administration Board (NPTAB) to the lowest of four bidders.
The $728.165M contract was signed on December 31, 2012 with a commencement date of January 21, 2013. The contract provided for a two- year period for defects liability, one year after completion.
The contractor was granted an extension of contract to September 30, 2015.