Acting Prime Minister and Minister for Economy Aiyaz Sayed-Khaiyum has revealed plans that are in place for the construction of schools damaged by Tropical Cyclone Winston.
Sayed-Khaiyum says schools that were affected have been divided into different categories.
He says those schools that fall into Grade 3 to 5 are the ones that were severely affected and they are assigned under the Ministry of Economy for reconstruction.
Sayed-Khaiyum says schools in Grade 1 and 2 are being assessed by the Ministry of Education.
He says detailed work is being conducted and the Government Tender Board is looking at 9 schools that will be awarded the 1st batch of tenders.
He says once the tender is awarded contractors are supposed to be on the ground in a week to start reconstruction.
Sayed-Khaiyum says they plan to give the tender approvals for others schools by November.
He says this is because they plan to have most schools reconstructed by Term 1 next year.
They will also see that schools’ in the same area are placed in clusters.
The clusters will allow one contractor to work on 3 or 4 schools that are within the same area.
Sayed-Khaiyum says through this mobilization they can move from one school to another school using the same labour.
He says the Construction Implementation Unit has a level of documentation that has been developed to ensure that we are building back strong.
Sayed-Khaiyum says the idea is to build back better and that includes looking at concrete solutions and also amalgamating the classrooms into one building.
He says this to ensure that they can also serve as evacuation centres in the future.
The government has allocated $130m for the reconstruction of schools affected by TC Winston.
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