PRIME Minister Philip J. Pierre has secured parliament’s approval to allocate XCD 5.4 million to refurbish and repair schools ahead of the 2023/24 academic year.
According to Pierre, Tropical Storm Bret “caused damage to some schools and educational establishments in the country; because of the urgency of the need to repair these school buildings… Cabinet and the Ministry of Education thought it necessary… to transfer money from the Consolidated Fund into the Contingency Fund to effect these repairs.”
“That comes in line with the educational support that we have given to schools this year. Every member of parliament got an allowance to…. buy education supplies for students,” Pierre said during his contribution to parliament on Tuesday.
Twenty-two schools (both primary and secondary) were impacted by Tropical Storm Bret, Education Minister Shawn Edward said. Amongst them were Vide Bouteille Primary, Ave Maria Primary, Gordon and Walcott Memorial, Bexon Primary, Micoud Primary, Mongouge Combined, Fond St Jacques Primary, Soufriere Infant, Vieux Fort Primary, Soufriere Secondary and Choiseul Secondary.
These schools were amongst “the most severely affected and the bulk of the money that we will be receiving will go towards rehabilitation of school infrastructure,” Edward said.
“Ours is a government that has placed a premium on education and we believe that at every opportunity we must give the children of Saint Lucia the most comfortable environments within which their learning must be facilitated. It is against that backdrop that we are here this morning moving diligently to transfer monies from the Consolidated Fund to repair the schools that were damaged,” he added.
The Ministry of Education has more than 100 educational institutions “that we must maintain on an annual basis, and in the estimates, you would have seen a little more than three million dollars allocated for school rehabilitation. We’ve been able to manage that amount and use it very wisely to ensure that we treat the issues as they surface in schools,” noted Edward.
Whilst the aforementioned amount is “not ideal”, the minister said “we in education understand the situation the country is in right now. We know things will get much better having improved in recent times, so I have, at every opportunity, implored the staff at the ministry to maximize the output from the amounts that have been given.”
Vieux Fort Primary School will receive much-needed attention, the minister said. According to him, there is quite a bit of work to be done at the school. He said that the damage was quite extensive and “it was not just the strength of the wind that created the damage, but the metal beams from a school that had been constructed I think some time after Hurricane Allen.”
“There was quite a bit of corrosion and that was undermined with winds of approximately 60 miles an hour. We have preliminary amounts as it relates to the Vieux Fort Primary School and the work to be done is pretty extensive,” Edward said.
“The one thing we have been able to do is to speak to some of the prospective contractors and to implore and impress upon them the need for them to work diligently, and if it means that in some cases they have to work night and day, they will have to, because we do not want for there to be any disruption as it relates to the reopening of school,” he added.
The Belle Vue Combined School in Vieux Fort North was also damaged, the minister said, adding that the framing for the roof, covering, ceiling, and electricals were all affected.
Edward said he visited the school along with the Member of Parliament for Vieux Fort North earlier this year and they were able to have preliminary conversations with staff “in terms of giving a commitment that the prime minister and minister for finance will find the monies for the rehabilitation of that school.
Here we are today feeling vindicated that the prime minister, true to form, has found the money and this morning we are coming to parliament for approval to ensure that the repairs are carried out.”
The Mongouge Combined School will also receive the attention that it needs in the near future, the minister said, adding that the Dennery Primary School too, needs attention.
Further, he noted, “when you talk about school rehabilitation and even construction of new schools it is not acceptable for you to just take a plan… (and) lodge it with the DCA for approval.”
“The nomenclature has changed and today we are talking about climate resilient infrastructure so the repairs that we’ll be embarking on would not be done in such a way where we just replace what was damaged, but we have to build back stronger to ensure that whatever we put… will be able to withstand whatever weather systems that come our way. This is part and parcel of the Ministry of Education preparing this country for the reopening of school in September,” he added.