PM: Incomplete schools to be finished soon

THE PRIME Minister said many of the incomplete schools since the UNC administration should be completed in a matter of weeks or months.

He was responding to a prime minister’s question in the House Monday from Caroni East MP Dr Tim Gopeesingh on why Government has not been able to complete any of the more than 60 schools which were left at various stages of construction in September 2015 (when the previous administration left office).

Dr Rowley said the main reason for the delay in completion was the way the scope of work had been established. He reported that during 2015 the previous government awarded a series of contracts towards the construction of schools and all executed and contractors put to work but there was no identifiable funding put in place to sustain the projects.

He said this Government met this “chaotic environment” where some contractors had done considerable amount of work on schools and were not paid.

Rowley said the contracts themselves were legally problematic and claims by contractors extensive.

“And in many instances contractors had stopped work waiting to be paid for the work that they had to done. This Government meeting that environment had to untangle that unsatisfactory situation and pay those contractors for the work that was done from budgetary allocations that had to be found.”

He said the restart the projects there was the complication of claims made by contractors and establishing through quantity surveyor work what was outstanding. He added that funding has been sourced to complete the schools.

“Had there been a proper arrangement where funding was identified and contract documents in place and there were not this legal complexities and the plethora of claims then we could have advanced this further. But we had to clear these things up. But that work is now done and in the coming weeks and months you will see the completion of many of these schools, some of them were in an advanced stage of construction, but we had spent the first set of monies we had paying for the work that was done and getting the contractors to restart their effort from the various school projects.”

Naparima MP Rodney Charles asked about the Reform Village Early Childhood Centre which was “99 per cent complete” but allowed to reach to a state of disrepair with vines growing on the building. He asked why Government did not take steps to protect the properties and if the part of the reported $20 million rent for One Alexandra Place could not have been used for it.

Rowley replied that when you enter into contracts you have to be very careful that you meet the terms of the contracts and in a position to resist and defend claims.

“That could have been avoided completely in the energy you are putting out now in trying to hold us accountable if you had held your colleagues accountable for the willy nilly way in which those contracts were entered into in 2015.”

He said that no school was 99 per cent complete and that was misinformation and fabrication.

“Secondly if the five years that you and your friends paid at One Alexandra, five years you paid rent there without using the building for one hour.”

He added that when Government rents a building it is utilised.

Gopeesingh asked about the more than $862 million for school repair and maintenance and construction and where it was utilised as not one new school was built. Rowley replied the bulk of that was to pay contractors that had not been paid.

“You created this environment and we are fixing it.”