Repair setbacks: Delayed reopening projected for ESHS
Ongoing repairs to sections of the hurricane-ravaged Elmore Stoutt High School (ESHS) Road Town campus have suffered a number of setbacks and will no longer be ready for September 2018, Education Minister Myron Walwyn has said.
It is now being projected to be completed within the first term of next academic year, which starts in September.
The Education Ministry is repairing the L-shaped building at ESHS’ Road Town campus so senior students can return to that location while junior students remain at the de facto Pasea Estate school campus.
“It was our hope that we would have gotten this building repaired for September 2018, but there is an inordinate amount of technical work that has to be done,” Minister Walwyn said.
“Despite the Ministry’s commitment to the ESHS rehabilitation, there are several challenges and time-consuming procedures that have posed a threat to the September 2018 [target],” he explained.
The education minister made the statement this week while delivering another of his updates on the overall progress of territorial education.
Electrical system destroyed
The 2017 hurricanes destroyed the school’s electrical system and the main feed has to be replaced.
Walwyn said panels, wiring, lights and fixtures also need replacing on all four floors of the L-shaped building before it becomes student-ready.
“We have taken a holistic approach to the rebuilding of the L-shaped building at ESHS and have formally sought the assistance of the Ministry of Finance in making a request for the repair work at ESHS to be added into the Caribbean Development Bank (CDB) Loan package,” he said.
Walwyn further said sourcing doors and windows have proved to be another stumbling block.
“Under the CDB loan guideline, procurement of material must be from a member country which does not include the United States of America and Puerto Rico – countries from which most goods in the Virgin Islands are imported from.”
CDB loan ‘vigorous’
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