Contractors in Barbuda are adding the final touches to the recently refurbished Holy Trinity Primary School.
The building that housed the island’s lone primary school was destroyed by Hurricane Irma which struck Barbuda in September 2017 and students who once attended the educational institution are still receiving lessons at a temporary location.
In a recent interview, Member of Parliament for Barbuda Trevor Walker told OBSERVER media that contractors have completely repaired all the roofs on the school’s compound and were in the process of installing doors and windows, as well as painting the facility.
“We would want to use the opportunity to thank the Sandals Foundation which [has] been working with us to ensure that the school is totally repaired,” Walker said.
Last year, the Barbuda Council took on the responsibility of repairing the school after it decided that the government had not acted in an appropriate time frame by making preparations for the completion of the original structure.
The government has instead constructed temporary facilities to accommodate the primary school students. The government had also announced that the Dominican Republic was expected to commence building a replacement school for the Holy Trinity Primary School in Codrington.
On more than one occasion government authorities, through the Development Control Authority, also moved to stop the construction after raising concerns of the quality of the work to be carried out and the integrity of the structure.
Asked whether or not he thinks the building will be utilized upon its completion, Walker stated that it would be foolhardy of the government not to do so.
“We were working with the Development Control Authority and other overseas personnel who came to Barbuda and inspected the building and saw exactly what we were doing. If the government of Antigua and Barbuda decides to allow our children to stay in those barracks next to the Lagoon versus taking them to use the repaired Holy Trinity School, then we will take matters from there,” Walker declared.
He stated that it would be unfair to the children and their parents and would also be a slap in the face of those donors who would have financed the project.