$253.8M in contracts signed to rebuild St George’s High

Following an electrical fire last July that destroyed St George’s High School and displaced hundreds of students, the Education Ministry on Friday signed six contracts amounting to $253.8 million for its reconstruction.

The new school, to be built within the footprint of the burnt building in Georgetown, was divided into six lots to be executed simultaneously by different contractors. Its completion is expected within the next five to seven months.
“We tried to divide it up so that more people could get opportunities to work in the country and benefit from these resources [and] also so that we could have simultaneous work happening so that the end product comes back to us in a short time,” said Education Minister Priya Manickchand.
After a competitive public bidding process advertised since last September, the contracts were awarded among four contractors.
BM Property Investment Inc received the $113,943,900 contract to complete the superstructure as well as the $59,989,500 contract for block works.
A Ograsein & Sons General Contracting was awarded the $9,651,970 contract for the installation of plumbing infrastructure while Cummings Electrical Company Ltd received the $18,720,592 contract to complete the electrical works.
Meanwhile, Superior Supplies & General Construction received both the $22,472,560 contract to complete the external works and the $29,052,600 contract for finishing works.
Origin Investment was also selected as the project consultant.
Based on reports and recommendations by the Guyana Fire Service (GFS), Permanent Secretary Alfred King explained that this new building will include fire prevention facilities such as fire escape stairs, escape doors, fire alarms, extinguishers, limited timber usage, metal ceilings and fire-retardant panels.
Measuring 209 feet by 70 feet, the new St George’s High School is expected to accommodate up to 400 students.
The concrete, two-storey structure is projected to have 12 classrooms, six labs including Information Technology (IT), home economics and Industrial Technology labs, and a canteen.
On July 20, 2022, St George’s High School was engulfed in flames in what the GFS determined to be a fire that was electrical in origin, stemming from an inoperable duplex receptacle located in the Social Studies Department.
The GFS had noted that “though inoperable, electricity was going to the duplex receptacle and the subsequent overheating of the insulation caused the plastic coating on the wire to melt, resulting in arcing and sparking which ignited nearby combustibles and spread to the entire building.”
Since then, the Education Ministry facilitated the shift of over 200 students to several other schools including: South Ruimveldt Secondary, West Ruimveldt Secondary, Freeburg Secondary, Plaisance Secondary, Dolphin Secondary, L’Aventure Secondary, Friendship Secondary, Ann’s Grove Secondary, Covent Garden Secondary, Cummings Lodge Secondary and Kingston Secondary.

Space constraints
While the Ministry initially attempted to secure a larger space for the construction of a bigger facility for these students, their inability to find an appropriate spot led them to rebuild at the school’s original location.
Manickchand said that the Georgetown Education District had serious space constraints even before the fires that destroyed St George’s High School, North Ruimveldt Secondary School and Christ Church Secondary.
These issues, she noted, have only gotten worse with the destruction of those schools.
On Thursday, the Education Ministry signed over $668 million in contracts to rebuild Christ Church Secondary School which was also gutted by a fire in January.
The Minister assured that soon, contracts will be signed to rebuild St Mary’s High School.
This, along with the reconstruction of North Ruimveldt Secondary School, St Rose’s High School, extensions at Queen’s College, The Bishops’ High School, East Ruimveldt Secondary School and St Winefride’s Secondary School, will see the space issues in the Georgetown District being addressed.
Further, Manickchand noted that the completion of Good Hope Secondary School will address space issues along the East Coast while the completion of Yarrowkabra Secondary School will address the said issue for the Upper East Bank Demerara area.
“So, it’s a massive programme to get secondary schools up and running and as it is exciting. It is equally worrying because we are depending on so much; on people who are signing contracts with us, honouring their duties and responsibilities under those contracts. So, the Government is clear. Our intention is clear. We want children in schools. We want to build schools,” Manickchand stated.