Tobago Correspondent
The Division of Education, Research, and Technology turned the sod at the site for the construction of the new Scarborough Secondary School at Bacolet Park, Scarborough, last week.
The school will accommodate 1,000 students but its design and estimated cost is not yet available.
Despite the current allocation of $800,000 for school repairs and $1 million for a new school, Tobago House of Assembly Chief Secretary Farley Augustine said he was confident in past commitments of the central government to support the project.
He said, “We have had constant conversations with the Minister of Finance (Colm Imbert), who has given us an undertaking time and time again, in our meetings with him, that let’s get to the design stage and the central government is committed to funding this project. And so we look forward to that collaboration. We look forward to getting this done.”
In his address during the ceremony, Augustine said when the tendering process is closed the estimated cost of the project will be announced.
However, he offered “that the construction for the school will cost the people of Tobago quite a huge sum.”
“But I can’t help reflect on what the real value for dollar will be.”
As for the timeline of the project, Augustine said the Request for Proposals will be issued by the end of January or early February, followed by the design-build phase starting in June. The estimated construction period is set at 24 months, meaning the school is expected to be completed within two years.
For years, Scarborough Secondary School has been struggling to cope with the challenges brought on by climate change, particularly coastal erosion at its current Old Government Farm Road, Shaw Park location.
Over the last two years, Augustine said the THA has spent no less than $10 million trying to keep the school up and running.
A host of infrastructural damage have led to a series of protest by members of the Trinidad and Tobago Unified Teachers Association, the PTA and students.
Once completed, the school is set to cover an area of 16,840 square meters, with facilities such as an administrative block, maintenance area, modern cafeteria, computer and IT rooms, multimedia centre science laboratories, and much more.
Augustine said the sod-turning ceremony marked the first significant step taken towards the construction of a new secondary school that the Scarborough community has been advocating for.
“The real value for money must be the performance of our students in the classroom,” he stressed.
He also urged the community to reflect on the need for tangible outcomes, stating, “We have to ensure that the children from Tobago are able to not just compete globally but they are able to compete and beat the rest of the world.”