$11.5 million contract signed for junior high school in West Grand Bahama

Fri, Sep 9th 2016, 12:07 PM

Two contracts, totaling more than $11.5 million, were signed on Thursday morning, September 8, 2016 for the construction of a new junior high school in West Grand Bahama.

The facility is being constructed near the exit point of the Holmes Rock community, on land formerly owned by Waugh Construction.

Minister for Works and Urban Development, the Hon. Philip Davis told a sizable crowd assembled for the contract signing and ground breaking on Thursday that his Ministry was cooperating with the Ministry of Education in the construction of the new school.

He informed that “we are now entering into two contracts to undertake works to build on this site a school that duplicates the Sister Mary Patricia Russell Junior High School in Freeport.”

Mr. Davis pointed out that in their search for a contractor, six construction companies were invited to tender bids for the project, three of which did not respond to those invitations, and tenders were opened at the Tenders Board in July of last years.

On Thursday the contracts were awarded to Brickhouse Construction, a firm headed by Mr. Lloyd Rolle, and RCL Construction, headed by West End native, Mr. Hilton Bowleg.

Mr. Davis explained that “after careful consideration of tendered amounts, and with the agreement of both contractors, the decision was taken to divide into two equal components and award contracts to build the school.”


Two contracts, totaling $11,523,470.00, were signed Thursday, September 8, 2016 for the construction of a Junior High School in West Grand Bahama. RCL Construction and Brickhouse Construction will construct the facility which will resemble the Sister Mary Patricia Russell Junior High School in Freeport. Left to right in the photo seated are: Hilton Bowleg, RCL Construction; Lloyd Rolle, Brickhouse Construction; Colin Higgs, Permanent Secretary, Ministry of Works and Urban Development; and Dr. Michael Darville, Minister for Grand Bahama. Standing left to right are: Hon. Philip Davis, Deputy Prime Minister and Minister of Works and Urban Development; Hon. Jerome Fitzgerald, Minister of Education, Science and Technology; George Hutchison, Director of Public Works; and Livingston Forbes, Ministry of Works. (BIS Photo/Vandyke Hepburn)

He noted that Brickhouse will construct a two-storey structure of approximately 28,108.5 square feet in the main building area.

That building will comprise the main entrance porch, administration block, staff room and support spaces, student sick bay, computer classroom, library, sixteen standard classrooms, covered walkways, four fire stairwells and electrical rooms.

RCL Construction will construct a two-storey structure of approximately 10,094 square feet in the main building area.

That building will comprise eight standard classrooms, four student restroom blocks, covered walkways and breezeways, adjacent to classrooms and student restroom blocks.

RCL’s scope of works will also include the pump and electrical room building, security booths, external works including boundary wall and fencing, gates, curbs, sidewalks, roads, parking areas, landscaping and courtyard paving, and drainage.

According to the Minister for Works, the contracts have been costed at the VAT-inclusive base sums of $5,761,735.00 each, therefore the combined base project cost is $11,523,470.00.

He also advised that they have set aside a 15% client contingency and provisional sum of $400,000.00 for statutory utilities for each contract.

“Both contractors have been required to cooperate to engage a project manager to mitigate against associated risks to ensure that this project is completed within budget and on time, that is, within 18 months,” Mr. Davis said.

The Deputy Prime Minister also brought attention to a number of other Government projects underway in Grand Bahama such as the construction of the new Fire Station, Fishing Hole Road project, and sea walls at Smith’s Point.

“This school represents another plank in the robust package of capital investment projects delivered for Grand Bahama,” he stated.

Further, Mr. Davis stated that it is the focus of the Government to ensure that the revitalization of Grand Bahama is not limited to Freeport, rather, they intend to promote holistic development for all of Grand Bahama.

By Simon Lewis

Bahamas Information Services

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