Latest update March 28th, 2024 12:59 AM
Aug 08, 2016 News
By Jarryl Bryan
The tranquil village of Kato is located in Potaro-Sipiruni, Region Eight. Nestled in between mountain
ranges, rolling hills, plunging valleys and winding rivers, it is home to approximately 200 households.
Its tranquility was disturbed in 2013 when construction started on the Kato Secondary School project. Kares Engineering Inc. had won the contract to construct the ultimate secondary school, but after three years the school remains closed during to structural defects.
According to the Tashao of Kato, Clifton Perrieira, there are concerns about where students in Kato and the adjoining areas will go. The whole concept of building Kato Secondary had been because of overcrowding at Paramakatoi Secondary.
“My concern is for the children who are supposed to be attending school and they cannot,” he said. “There are some children (in the region) and they are suffering a lot in terms of transportation, coming back to their various villages. So we were hoping that this building would open early.”
Kaieteur News also spoke to Marcia Fredericks, a Kato mother of six. Her story was a despondent one, as she stated that while one of her daughters passed her grade six assessment examinations, she does not know where the child will attend school.
“I have a child that passed her grade six assessment. And they told us that the dorms over there are filled and they told us the school would be opened next year, I don’t know when.
“Maybe she will have to stay in the primary school here. We can’t say, they didn’t tell us anything more. But we really want our school here, because we have our son who passed the grade six too and he can’t go over there.”
She related that her son has chronic health issues and as such, a school which can cater for that is necessary.
Currently, there is no official opening date for Kato School, for which construction started in 2013. The edifice was scheduled to be opened last January. This was delayed following the discovery of the defects.
Because of the defects, a technical audit into the school was commissioned and a report prepared by Rodrigues Architects Limited. That report was subsequently presented to Parliament by Minister of Public Infrastructure David Patterson.
Cabinet also examined the report, the roles of the supervising consultant, construction
and cost of remedial works to be done. The findings have resulted in cabinet recommending that the Attorney General Chambers review the report.
From the findings, Patterson had said that it was revealed that approximately 60 percent of the project was defective, with another 30 percent just over the borderline. Only 10 percent of the project was deemed structurally sound, according to Patterson.
Patterson had said that because of the shoddy work done by the contractor, some students wouldn’t get to attend secondary school for another year and parents would be forced to reorganize their plans.
Kato Secondary was initially billed at $780M, but the previous Government later disclosed that the final tally could be about $1B. The school was intended to be a ‘super structure’, which would cater for 400 students, 250 of whom will be accommodated in the dormitory.
The school also has an adjoining administrative block, teachers’ quarters, kitchen and sanitary facilities, and a dozen classrooms. It also boasts computer and science laboratories, departments for industrial arts, home economics, visual arts and agriculture.
It had been expected that a construction of this magnitude would engender positive job
creation in the locality. While the contractor brought his own ‘saw men’ from Georgetown, there were villagers who were employed from the community as labourers.
According to the Tashao, the majority of jobs currently held in the community are held by teachers, public servants and those in the medical profession. However, Perriera noted the importance of contracts in providing job opportunities.
“Other than (public sector jobs) there are contracts and that is what we have been hoping for. If they have contracts (it is expected) they are going to employ mostly people from around here.”
Unfortunately, he stated, that is not always the case. The Tashao expressed disappointment in the quota of workers currently performing duties on a construction for doctors’ quarters. He stated that that construction started about a month ago.
THIS IDIOT TELLING GUYANA WE HAVE NO SAY IN THE 50% PROFIT SHARING AGREEMENT WE HAVE WITH EXXON.
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