March 31 is the new revised completion date for buildings being constructed to house students of the Mary Hutchinson Primary School in Union Island, while their main campus is rebuilt.
The initial deadline was Dec. 31, 2022.
Student of the Mary Hutchinson Primary School in Union Island have been taking classes in the learning resource centre on the island for some time since their school was declared structurally unsound.
In Parliament last week, Terrance Ollivierre, MP for Southern Grenadines, where Union Island is located, noted that in a response to a question on Oct. 17, 2022, Minister of Education, Curtis King, had stated that the temporary building to house the staff and students of the Mary Hutchinson Primary School would have been completed in December 2022.
“He also stated that the building should be in use for the teaching and learning process by January 2023,” Ollivierre said in a question for oral answer.
He asked the minister to state the status for the completion and use of the temporary building.
King told Parliament that based on the advice given to him in October, he had informed Parliament that the temporary buildings would have been finished by the end of December 2022.
“To the disappointment of myself and the Ministry of Education, this projected completion date did not materialise,” the education minister told lawmakers.
“I was advised that a number of unexpected supply chain issues hampered the work programme, which significantly delayed the project. The work is now making steady progress and is approximately 75% completed,” he said.
The minister said four of the five buildings are substantially completed.
“The contractor is awaiting the delivery of windows. The supplier has experienced delays with certain components of the particular windows.”
The minister said the fifth building is behind schedule.
“However, the subcontractor is committed to increasing the labour force to have the project completed within the revised end date of March 31 ,2023,” he said.
“If — I said if — if the revised completion date is achieved by the contractor, the buildings will be made available to students for the beginning of the third term,” the education minister said.
“Of course, the temporary building will provide accommodation for the staff and students of the Mary Hutchinson Primary School, which is been currently housed in the Learning Resource Centre,” he added.