$346M contract inked to reconstruct North West Secondary

Months after the North West Secondary School at Mabaruma, Region One (Barima-Waini) had been gutted by fire, a contract has been inked to rebuild the facility to the tune of $346.2 million.
The contract, inked on Friday, January 6, 2023, has been awarded to Aruca Investments, which has been given 14 months to complete the project under the supervision of the project consultant, Innovative Engineering Services.
During the signing ceremony, Education Minister Priya Manickchand called on the contractor to deliver quality service, and complete the project in the time agreed.
She said that since its destruction by fire, the school’s students and teachers have been tremendously inconvenienced.

The Minister told the contractors and the consultant company that the completion of the school is not like any other project they have worked on. She explained that the way they approach this project in terms of quality and time taken to complete it can change many lives by ensuring children receive a proper education. Moreover, Minister Manickchand said education delivery in Region One would see further development, with new schools scheduled to be built at Waramuri, Hosororo, and Kwebana over the next few years.
MoE Permanent Secretary Alfred King noted that rebuilding of the North West Secondary School is a critical component in the Ministry’s efforts to attain universal secondary education. King, explaining that the Ministry is working on achieving universal secondary education, added that this project is important to achieving that goal.

Giving a brief overview of the project, Special Projects Officer Ron Eastman said that, after extensive consultations, a design was approved for the new building. The reconstructed North West Secondary School will be a two-storey building with 23 classrooms, three science labs, a sanitary block and an accessible lift.
Also present during the signing ceremony were Deputy Chief Education Officer, with responsibility for Amerindian and Hinterland Education Development (AHED), Marti DeSouza, and Director of the School Boards Secretariat, Deonarine Hardat.
On September 25, 2021, the North West Secondary School was destroyed by fire. The Ministry of Education has since been providing persons affected with support, and had made alternative arrangements to facilitate the students enrolled at the secondary school until it is rebuilt.