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Howard Cooke Primary gets concrete boost from Jamaica Pre-Mix

Published:Tuesday | June 27, 2023 | 12:56 AMAlbert Ferguson/Gleaner Writer
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Jamaica Pre-Mix Limited workers pouring concrete mixture to build out the roof of three classrooms at the Howard Cooke Primary School in Montego Bay, St James.
Photo by Albert Ferguson
Jamaica Pre-Mix Limited workers pouring concrete mixture to build out the roof of three classrooms at the Howard Cooke Primary School in Montego Bay, St James.
Anthony Anderson (left), regional manager at Jamaica Pre-Mix Concrete Limited, shakes hands with Howard Cooke Primary School Principal Dave Scott. Jamaica Pre-Mix Limited has contributed over $1.5 million towards the school’s construction of new classroo
Photo by Albert Ferguson
Anthony Anderson (left), regional manager at Jamaica Pre-Mix Concrete Limited, shakes hands with Howard Cooke Primary School Principal Dave Scott. Jamaica Pre-Mix Limited has contributed over $1.5 million towards the school’s construction of new classrooms.
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WESTERN BUREAU:

HOWARD COOKE Primary School in St James has received a donation of concrete mixture valued at more than $1.5 million from Jamaica Pre-Mix Limited to finish the construction of three of the five classrooms it is currently building.

Anthony Anderson, regional manager of Jamaica Pre-Mix, says the company is happy to assist the school, whose administrators want to provide a comfortable space for students and teachers.

“The needs of Howard Cooke Primary were brought to [our attention] by Rena Keen from Sandals Resorts International and we immediately sent somebody to scope the project and realised that they needed help, and our managing director gave the go-ahead to assist them,” Anderson said.

Since they have been helping other schools and institutions on the island for some time now, he said it was an easy call to provide concrete mixture for the school’s roofing.

“We have been donating concrete and other supplies to schools in Kingston and Montego Bay, and some of these donations are not usually made public,” Anderson told The Gleaner on Saturday.

“We will continue to assist schools, police stations and hospitals. Anyone can come to us and we will assist them as best as possible,” he added. “We believe in education, and that children must be educated.”

Acknowledging that the pre-mix concrete industry is very competitive, the Jamaica Pre-Mix regional manager says his company continues to maintain its market share, allowing them enough room to assist those in need.

Dave Scott, principal of the school, expressed gratitude to the company for its assistance to construct the new academic wing. According to him, there are five classrooms and a pair of restrooms on the new block, and Jamaica Pre-Mix will be responsible for roofing three of them at a significantly reduced cost.

“Right now, we are only roofing three due to funding [challenges],” Scott said.

He noted that due to constraints, some classes are now being facilitated in retrofitted containers that were not built for classrooms. This also includes the library, guidance department and culture rooms.

“We want to take those students out. Therefore, we have to complete these classrooms,” Scott told The Gleaner. “We are covering three classrooms, with the hope that by the end of this calendar yea,r we can cover the other two.”

He added that when the new school building is completed, “we can have fewer students in our classes to enhance the teaching-learning process”.

albert.ferguson@gleanerjm.com