The largest portion of the sixty million pounds, provided in humanitarian aid for Anguilla, following the devastation by Hurricane Irma in September 2017, has been committed to the Ministry of Education for the repair and rebuilding of schools.
This was pointed out by the Minister of Education, Mrs. Cora Richardson-Hodge, in an address marking the fourth anniversary of the Anguilla United Front Government which was elected to office in 2015 for a five-year term.
The Minister made the disclosure on Monday, May 6, in her address sent to The Anguillian newspaper and other media houses.
In order to give clarity and a full understanding of what the Minister said, apart from other matters, the following extract has been taken from her speech for separate publication:
“In education, you know that all except one of our primary schools suffered significant damage from Hurricane Irma in 2017. One of the first things that we did was to obtain a costing for repairs and renovations to the infrastructure for our schools. Many may not be aware, but the majority of the 60 million pounds obtained from the UK has been allocated for education, as a result of my Ministry being able to identify from early the serious needs of the various schools.
“I wish to recognize the efforts of my Permanent Secretary, Mrs. Chanelle Petty Barrett, and our Education Officers in that regard. It has taken us longer to rebuild our schools than we had anticipated, as rebuilding has involved the drawing, finalization and approval of plans and consultations with Education officials, staff and parents, approval of funding for each of the projects and the procurement process.
“I am happy, however, to deliver this update to you as to where we are on each of the schools:
“At Vivien Vanterpool Primary School – a contractor has been selected to build a cistern and a music room over the cistern. VVPS was the least damaged of all of the schools by Hurricane Irma. The contract has already been signed and construction should commence shortly.
“At Morris Vanterpool Primary School – as we know the students and staff of the MVPS had to be relocated and the school demolished. The school will be rebuilt on the same site, although in a U shape in order to create more space for a playing field. The drawings on MVPS have been completed, and the tender process should take place between May and July 2019 with construction scheduled for August 2019 to October 2020.
“At Orealia Kelly Primary School – the drawings for the Western Block are near completion and a tender pack should be made available over the next few weeks.
“At Valley Primary School – the procurement process is currently in progress and construction of the middle block is scheduled for July 2019 to April 2020.
“At Adrian T. Hazell Primary School – the tender pack will be available before the end of May 2019, and construction is scheduled for August 2019 to April 2020.
“The Abena Lake-Hodge Comprehensive School is by far the largest project to be constructed from the UK grant. An entirely new school is being proposed which would include a science block, a culinary arts block, a technical block, a cafeteria and a 400-meter track to the south of the classrooms.
“Consultations were held with teachers and staff on May 2nd, 2010, parents on May 3rd, 2019, and the consultation for the general public will be held on Friday, 10th May, 2019, at 5.30 pm at the Campus B Quadrangle. All are invited to attend and obtain information and ask questions in relation to same. Construction is anticipated to take place in the latter half of 2019.”
