Special needs school for Schoonord
The National Assembly on Thursday approved a $5.05 billion budget for Region Three, Essequibo Islands West Demerara, including $30 million for the construction and equipping of a special needs school at Schnoonord.
Minister of Communities Ronald Bulkan explained to the assembly that in 2017, $155.7 Million has been allocated under Education Delivery for the provision of buildings, schools, sanitary blocks, quarters, ramps and revetment and gas lines within the region.
He noted that under this allocation a provision of $30 million has been set aside for the school which will cater for the education of students with learning and attention disabilities. Other projects to be executed under this allocation are a $35 million completion of the Region’s Department of Education building at Plantain Walk; $20 million construction of a cold storage facility at the Region’s Department of Education compound at Plantain Walk; $5 million construction of a sanitary block at Vreed-en-Hoop; $2 Million construction of boat house at Parika; and $ 6 Million each for the provision of ramps and revetments at Northern Hog Island and Upper Bonasika Primary schools.
The Minister explained that construction of the cold storage will ensure that juices provided to the Region under the Ministry of Education’s School Feeding Programme are properly stored.
The region will also construct several sanitary blocks. One at Nooitgedacht Nursery for $1.5 Million, at San Souci for $4 Million, and at Hague for $1 Million.
Teachers travelling from the coast to teach will soon be housed at living quarters at Great Troolie. The construction of these quarters will cost the region $4 million while head teachers at Northern Hog Island, Caria Caria, Upper Bonasika and Western Hog Island Primary will soon be housed at quarters costing $9 million each.
Additionally gas lines will be installed at the Patentia Secondary science laboratory using an allocation of $2 Million and at the Essequibo Island Secondary in Wakenaam for the sum of $2.2 Million.