Ministry seeking contractor to rebuild North West Secondary School

Nov 13, 2022 News

North West Secondary School which was destroyed by a fire last year.

Kaieteur News – The North West Secondary School located in Mabaruma, Region One will soon be rebuilt. The school was destroyed by fire in September 2021.

According to an advertisement published in the Kaieteur News, the Ministry of Education is seeking a contractor to rebuild the school.

According to the advertisement, bidding for the project will be conducted through the National Competitive Bidding (NCB) procedures, specified in the Procurement Act 2003 and Regulations 2004 and is open to all eligible contractors.

The estimated cost to reconstruct the building was not stated in the advertisement but the project is slated to open on December 1, 2022 at the National Procurement and Tender Administration Board (NPTAB) office.

On September 25, 2021 the North West Secondary School, a two-storey wooden and concrete building, which measures approximately 150ft. by 200ft., was destroyed by a fire.

According reports, the fire had begun sometime after 22:00hrs that day. Police ranks who responded did their best to extinguish the blaze but due to the lack of a fire truck in the area, they were unable to save the school. The blaze lasted for hours and was finally extinguished around 02:00hrs the following day.

Over 600 students were housed in the school which consisted of six classrooms, a Science Lab, an office and a Home Economics Department, along with computers, stationery and lab equipment.

Based on the investigations to determine the cause of the fire, the Guyana Fire Service had revealed that the fire was an act of arson.

The Government in this year’s budget had set aside a sum for the education sector which would also go towards the reconstruction of the school.

Out of the budgeted amount for the sector, Senior Minister of Finance, Dr. Ashni Singh had revealed that a sum of $6.6 billion has been dedicated towards the construction, rehabilitation, extension, and maintenance of educational facilities.

This would see the commencement of the construction of the Prospect Secondary School, and the reconstruction of North Ruimveldt and North West Secondary Schools, which were destroyed by fires last year. Already the Ministry has gone through the tender process to reconstruct the North Ruimveldt Secondary School. That contract which is worth $556 million was awarded in August last.