The construction of the new Christ Church Secondary School, which was gutted by fire almost one year ago, is significantly behind schedule – delayed by 10 months. Initially slated for completion in February 2024, the facility remains far from finished.
Contracts for the school’s reconstruction, valued at $688.1 million, were signed in June 2023, with an ambitious timeline of seven months. This approach divided the project into seven lots, with specific responsibilities assigned to various contractors to expedite the process.
The new school is being constructed on the same Middle and Camp Streets site where the original school was destroyed by fire in January 2023.
The new building is designed to accommodate 450-500 students and will feature 20 remodeled classrooms, nine laboratories, and teachers’ accommodations.
In an interview with this publication, Education Minister Priya Manickchand explained that the strategy implemented with the hope of completing the school in seven months did not produce the desired results.
“Christ Church at this point, I couldn’t tell you immediately what is the deadline date I think it was March. Lot 1 for Christ Church was late and so it pushed back all the lots and that’s really the issue. The intention was to have them all happen simultaneously but that didn’t work the way it was intended to work,” the Minister said.
The Education Ministry adopted approach to construction saw seven companies being awarded contracts, including, Lot 1: Sub-structure ($303,595,000) – BM Property Investment Inc, Lot 2: Super-structure ($295,137,706) – Zeco Group of Services Inc, Lot 3: Electrical infrastructure ($41,938,500) – N. Balgobin & Sons Contracting Service & Electrical Supplies, Lot 4: Plumbing infrastructure ($17,600,000) – BM Property Investment Inc, Lot 5 & 6: Air conditioning and fire prevention units ($10,745,000 & $6,759,000) – A. Ograsein & Sons General Contracting and Lot 7: Masonry and finishing work ($12,385,800) – Pantheon Construction Inc.
Despite the structured approach, progress has been hindered, with Minister Manickchand cautioning contractors about the impact of their delays.
In fact, the Education Minister emphasised the critical need to complete the project promptly, highlighting the strain on displaced students.
“We depend heavily on contractors staying true to their word. They are monthly meetings where the Minister meets with the contractors for all the various schools that we are building and fourthly meetings where the permanent secretary meets with contractors and consultants but we are where we are so we try to work with the challenges we have,” she added.
The original Christ Church Secondary School was destroyed in a fire deemed malicious by a GFS investigation. In response, the Government allocated resources to rebuild the institution, incorporating fire-resistant materials and modern safety systems.
