Ministry will not accept mediocrity – Manickchand warns contractor

Delayed St Rose’s High School project

Education Minister Priya Manickchand has warned Courtney Benn Contracting Services Ltd that the Ministry is not in a position to accept mediocrity in the performance of contracts and has put the contractor on notice for the severe delays.
On Monday, Manickchand met with members of the contracting firm hired to construct the St Rose’s High School building, which is yet to be completed two years after construction began.
Minister Manickchand expressed her deep concern about the lack of movement the project has experienced for two years. The contract for the construction of the new building was awarded in 2018. Changes were made to the initial design to include a pile foundation. However, since the piles were driven, no substantial work has been done at the location. She pointed out that it is disappointing that the company has not gone anywhere with the construction of the building. A release from the Minister’s office quoted her as saying that it is a disservice to the nation’s children that a state-of-the-art building which was scheduled to finish in August 2021 will have to be delayed further due to the contractor not being able to move the project along efficiently.
Minister Manickchand indicated to the Principal of the company, Courtney Benn, that the Ministry will have to make tough decisions regarding the project if his entity does not provide a solution to the current problem.
It was also highlighted in the meeting that the principal of the contracting entity is also behind in another project for the Ministry. That project is a dormitory for the Linden Technical Institute.
The company was informed that the Ministry will continue to be engaged on the way forward. Also present in the meeting was the Permanent Secretary of the Education Ministry, Alfred King; Special Projects Officer, Ron Eastman, Technical Officer to the PS, Karen Burch-Smith and engineers from the company.
In September it was reported that the contractor had seemingly abandoned the construction of the new wing of the St Rose’s High School at Church Street, Georgetown.
However, the contractor in response had said that the works on the new wing of the school had not been abandoned.
Back in 2018, $16.9 million was awarded to PD Contracting for the demolition of the St Rose’s High School, Church Street building. The demolition exercise commenced on July 9, 2018.