Education Minister says quantity surveyors to monitor Hurricane Beryl emergency repairs at schools

Education Minister Fayval Williams says independent quantity surveyors will be recruited to assess the repair works being done to schools that were severely damaged during the passage of Hurricane Beryl on July 3.

Speaking on day three of the Jamaica Teachers' Association's (JTA) 60th Annual Conference in Trelawny this morning, Williams revealed that of the island's 1,009 public schools, 352 were damaged by the hurricane.

These schools have been placed in Priority One, Priority Two and Priority Three.

Schools that are severely damaged have been placed in Priority One and are being rehabilitated under an emergency procurement basis.

She said the Ministry has engaged contractors, using the emergency procurement process, to rehabilitate schools that are severely damaged in its priority one group of education facilities across the island. 

“And so we will be hiring independent quality surveyors to go out and take a look at the work to see if we receive value for money,” Williams told teachers attending the conference which is being held against the themes “Preserving the Legacy: Remaining Relevant for the Future” 

She stated that this was important to the process because it is an emergency situation in which institutions are needed to facilitate the reopening of schools in September.

“You may not be in a very good bargaining position because you want to get the work done, but at the same time we have to ensure that there is value for money, and that's a way of protecting the integrity of the system,” the education minister noted.

While not providing an update on the total bill for the Hurricane Beryl repairs, Williams said those costs have gone up.

“As of last week, we have determined that 352 schools were impacted by the hurricane and of course with the additional numbers, the cost to repair has increased as well,” she added.

-Albert Ferguson 

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