The Ministry of Education through the Attorney General’s Chambers informed BK International that his contract for the construction of the Good Hope Secondary School on the East Coast of Demerara (ECD) has been terminated with immediate effect. In the letter to BK, as seen by this news agency, it was noted that the contract totaling US$4M was effected on October 1, 2018.
It was terminated on the grounds of a fundamental breach of the conditions stipulated in the contract which includes but not limited to “failing to maintain a security as required and inordinate delay.”
Guyana Standard understands that the government intends to institute legal proceedings against BK International to enforce all the provisions of the said contract and shall claim compensation and liquidated damages for the breaches. The Permanent Secretary of the Ministry of Education, Ms. Adele Clarke has been instructed to take possession of the site immediately.
The US$4 million state-of-the-art Good Hope Secondary, funded by the World Bank through the Guyana Secondary Education Improvement Project (GSEIP), was scheduled to be completed in January 2020. But due to delays by BK, the deadline was subsequently extended to May 22, 2021.
Upon completion, the A grade school was expected to have 26 classrooms, a library, a block for home economics, clothing and textiles, food and nutrition, art, science, and IT labs, as well as, a block for Technical and Vocational Training.
In April last, Education Minister, Priya Manickchand had expressed hope that the school would be completed in May so that students could be accommodated for the resumption of classes in September.
Minister Manickchand had said that the longer the contractor took to complete the school, the longer 1,000 children would be forced to be educated at other institutions that are not ideally equipped to deliver secondary education.
