$2B in contracts signed for Kwebana Secondary School

Manickchand warned the contractors that they are likely to face penalties if they fail to get the project done in keeping with the eight month deadline.

“Again this was divided into six lots because we want simultaneous work happening at the same time,” she said.

“If you can’t do it according to your contractual terms we are going to have to apply liquated damages”.

Pointing out the importance of the school to the region, Manickchand said the children in the Kwebana area attend a primary school and there are no trained secondary teachers.

“…There are children in various rivers…where they are just literally marking time in primary schools until they age out. So, we need these schools to be able to offer quality education. It’s going to change lives…and give people opportunities they never have before,” Manickchand said.

Meanwhile, the Ministry’s Permanent Secretary, Alfred King said the Kwebana secondary school will be one of the most advanced and complex schools within the education sector.

“This is a huge undertaken. We cannot afford slippages by the contractors… there cannot be any compromise here for performance,” King said.

Over the past weeks, billions of dollars of contracts were signed by the Ministry for the construction of several other secondary schools across the country.

Upon completion, these structures are expected to address the issue of overcrowding faced in many schools.

A number of new schools were also recently commissioned including the Good Hope Secondary school and the Abram Zuil Secondary school.