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| Hon Michael Perkins with Charlestown Secondary School and student Master Chris Liburd at the controls break ground for the new CSS expansion project. |
CHARLESTOWN NEVIS (December 8, 2004) -- Construction of the EC$3,540,000 new wing at the Charlestown Secondary School (CSS) began earlier this week by contractors China Jiangsu International Corporation, following a ceremonial ground breaking ceremony at the construction site on Tuesday December 6, 2005.
Parliamentary Representative for the St. Paul's Constituency and Minister of Physical Planning Infrastructural Development in the Nevis Island Administration Hon Michael Perkins told those gathered to witness the event that the project was a long awaited one with many hick ups along the way but was thankful for the commencement of the project.
Mr Perkins in a symbolic gesture broke ground with CSS student Master Chris Liburd who had been selected to accompany the Minister by Principal Mr Edison Elliott.
The project is part of the St Kitts and Nevis Basic Education Project which is being funded by the Caribbean Development Bank is slated for completion in 12 months. Also under the project is the construction of a new $3,554,833 St. Johns Primary School at The Flats in Cole Hill Village and a new $1,017,982.72 Special Education Unit which will be constructed at Prospect.
Meantime, Premier and Minister of Education Hon Vance Amory in his address described the project as being the largest and most significant undertaken for the CSS. He explained that and the setbacks that had been experienced were to ensure that once completed, the school would become a showpiece for education with the expectation that the students would further excel academically.
"The additional facilities- the laboratories, the music room the reading rooms and other learning spaces were all included because we wanted to make this school as a result of this project a showpiece for education. I know that the school has performed very well under trying circumstances and I am sure that at the end of this project that we will see even more excellence if one can speak of excellence in superlative and comparative terms.
"It is my hope that not only will we see outstanding academic achievement but that we will see with the Science laboratories which have been lacking over the years that some of our students would rise to the challenge of utilising those to become scientists and hopefully to identify some new scientific discovery which would place him or her or them and Nevis on the map," he said.
Mr Amory said though the inconveniences that would be foisted on the school because of the construction works would be temporary sections of the school have been relocated to avoid any disruption with the student's studies.
He urged the students to maintain their high academic performance since that was the expectation of the people of Nevis, St. Kitts and the region. "CSS even with the inconvenience and the temporary dislocation, cannot even begin to use that as an excuse for deficiency in their performance because the whole Caribbean expects and the people of Nevis and the people of St. Kitts are already looking out to know what will CSS do next year," the Education Minister said.
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| Premier and Minister of Education Hon Vance Amory |
Mr Amory also thanked the funding agencies the Caribbean Development Bank and the World Bank for ensuring that funding for the project remained despite the many setbacks the Nevis Island Administration had encountered.
He also took the opportunity to urge Mr Deora Pemberton a recent Civil Engineering graduate assigned to the Public Works Department, who will serve the Basic Education Project as Project Manager, to use the opportunity as a training ground for his future as a professional civil engineer.
Mr Kurvin Wallace also of the Public Works Department will serve as Clerk of Works.
Mr Amory took the opportunity also to encourage young persons who wished to work to seek employment with the construction company for the duration of the projects. "You are looking at one year's work and I am sure that the salary is as good as any salary that any contractor or builder would get. To those young persons who sometimes claim that they do not have opportunity to work as builders, masons, carpenters etc you can find work here and I would encourage them to come here and be a part of this project," he said.
The new CSS wing will be a two level concrete structure. On the ground floor there will be a multifunctional lab with floor space of 1, 232.53 sq. There will be multifunctional science labs located on the ground floor catering for Physics, Biology, Chemistry and other Sciences.
According to Mr Ernie Stapleton Permanent Secretary in the Ministry of Physical Planning and Infrastructural Development, the facility when completed will be a learning centre designed to permit a variety of scientific functions and activities including labs, counters and mechanical and electrical utilities, fume hoods, sound systems and miscellaneous equipment which will be provided for under the World Bank funded OECS Education Development Project.
The building will include store rooms, preparation rooms and washroom facilities for male and female students and staff as well as apron and corridor spaces on the ground floor.
According to Mr Stapleton, the first floor will consist of a library with a technical services room, a reading room and Language lab which will also serve as an audio-visual seminar room and a study room. The facility would have the capability of being equipped with the appropriate technology to permit access to regional and international computer data bases and similar facilities and services. It would be well ventilated and several spaces would be air conditioned. It would also include all the necessary facilities for students and persons with special needs.
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| L-R) Mr Ding Wen Yong Project Manager/Engineer and his Assistant Mr Changshan Zhou of contractor China Jiangsu International Corporation. |
Mr Changshan Zhou Assistant Project Manager of China Jiangsu International Corporation in brief remarks assured the Nevis Island Administration that the project would be completed in 12 months.
He said his company had executed several project in the Caribbean including in Trinidad and Tobago, Barbados, St. Vincent and Grenada and last week they were awarded another contract to construct two more schools in Barbados.
Mr. Zhou also urged Nevisian workers to take advantage of employment offers for skilled and unskilled workers from his company in an effort to speed up construction.
In brief remarks CSS Principal Elliott registered his satisfaction with the commencement of the project noting the school had been patient as the staff and students witnessed other schools being developed but as a school they remained focussed on the business of educating the youth
He said once the project is completed the new facility would enhance the CSS and lay the foundation for greater success.
