| In the quest to deliver quality education, the Ministry of Education during the past year expended more than 94 per cent of its $28.7 billion 2013 budgetary allocation. And according to Minister of Education, Priya Manickchand, the unexpended sum has been committed to works that will continue in the New Year.Among the projects that will be catered to are: education infrastructures that have started and services that were procured this year and are expected to be delivered next year, Manickchand said.From left: Minister of Education,Wholesale Authentic Jerseys, Ms. Priya Manickchand; Permanent Secretary, Ms. Delma Nedd and Chief Education Officer, Mr. Olato Sam.The Minister nevertheless underscored that the Ministry is pleased with its 2013 expenditure, since according to her, “spending really means that we are providing service. Spending and talking about billions of dollars makes for good headlines but for us what it means is that we were able to serve the children, the families, the country that we have been asked to serve by making those necessary expenditures.”Manickchand’s remarks were forthcoming yesterday as she hosted her Ministry’s end of year press conference at Cara Lodge, Quamina Street,NFL Jerseys Wholesale, Georgetown. She was accompanied by Chief Education Officer, Mr. Olato Sam, and Permanent Secretary Ms. Delma Nedd.At yesterday’s press conference Minister Manickchand told media operatives that during 2013, the Education Ministry was able to build and renovate all schools within its mandate, with the exception of the One Mile Primary in Region 10,Cheap Jerseys From China, a project that is yet to be awarded.The One Mile Primary was destroyed earlier this year through an act of arson which effectively disrupted the schooling of some 800 pupils.But according to Manickchand, “we are in the process of trying to get that contract awarded.” She however noted that all other contracts that were awarded to undertake works within the Ministry were either completed,China Jerseys, or are in the process of being completed.Moreover, she attributed the infrastructural accomplishments of the Ministry to “the really hard-working staff of our Ministry…particularly in this regard the engineering department…”It was such dedication, she noted, that ensured that schools across the country were not re-opened late following the July/August holidays. The only school that faced a delayed re-opening, she recounted, was the East Street Nursery School which was in fact due to technical issues such as the need to have concrete work cured, etcetera. “Every single other undertaking we engaged during the July/August holidays were completed and schools re-opened on the date they were supposed to be re-opened. We did it so smoothly that it went unnoticed,” Manickchand remarked.However, the Minister noted that while the majority of the works undertaken were laudable; there were some that “we were not absolutely satisfied with…I could tell you that I have had to use less than desirable language to make sure that it was done on time.”According to the Minister too, the Ministry was even forced on occasions to terminate contracts because contractors were not delivering on time. She noted though that terminating a contract “is always a very, very hard thing to do because people have invested, contractors are unhappy; they let that unhappiness be known even in our space.”However,NFL Jerseys China, the Minister disclosed yesterday that the Ministry has been able to secure liquidated damages in some of the contracts where contractors were not able to deliver on time.“We are not happy with some of the service we have gotten; where we are not happy as far as the Procurement Act would allow us we would make sure that when we are dealing with those firms and contractors,Wholesale NFL Jerseys, again we are guided by the unhappiness we felt,” asserted the Minister.Among the notable projects that attracted immense spending by the Education Ministry during the past year was its School Feeding Project,Jerseys NFL Cheap, an undertaking which Manickchand said has served to skyrocket schools’ attendance rate. |
