Garcia: Funds found to pay building contractors

“The contractors will be paid shortly so that they will resume work as quickly as possible,” he said.

Assuring protesting parents and children of the Reform Hindu Primary School, who gathered outside the Parliament in Port-of-Spain on Wednesday, that work will restart construction of the 95-percent completed new building to house their school, Garcia said that he will meet with the Education Facilities Company Limited to discuss ways and means by which the ministry could pay contractors to restart the school building programme.

Asking contractors, parents and the school community to be patient, he said, “Even if we are not in a position to pay all, we are trying our best to make partial payments and as work goes on, we will pay in full.” When he took office, he said, he found a bill of $800 million owing to contractors. “That is a huge sum.” Parents complained that the new school building on which construction began in 2014 was due for completion earlier this year. Meanwhile, they said that children and teachers have to work under humid and hot conditions, with rotting roofs, broken fences, poor toilet facilities, and rat infestation among other issues.

The said the school that was built to accommodate 100 children, was now overcrowded by 53 more students.

Asked how soon the work will restart on the new building to house Reform Hindu Primary, Garcia said, “I don’t want to give a prediction because you will hold me to it. All I can say is that we will engage with contractors to resume work as soon as possible.” Asked if he was aware of the details of the contract, Garcia who spoke against the backdrop of parents and students chanting, “We want we school, right now,” said that construction on quite a few schools stopped because of non-payment to contractors. Reform Hindu Primary was not an exception.

The contractors operated on FIDIC terms of contract, he said, one of which is to cease work if monies are not paid.