Upgraded facilities to house GIS wards to be ready by September

Construction work to retrofit the Government Industrial School (GIS) at Dodds, St Philip to make provision for the transfer of females from Barrows, St Lucy will be completed by September 9. The work will include the fitting of security cameras at the facility.

During a tour of the $1.4 million renovation project on Tuesday, Minister of Home Affairs and Information Wilfred Abrahams said he was pleased with the progress of the project.

He reiterated that once the girls are moved from Barrows to the retrofitted facility which they will share with the boys, they are expected to benefit from better accommodations and have access to programmes that are more suited to their needs.

“This is a fantastic facility. Out here feels different to St Lucy. The buildings look different, the resources we will put in place are different; the opportunities we will present are different.

“We want to have a fresh start on the 9th of September; fresh start, fresh curriculum, fresh outlook, fresh programmes, that’s what we want. I am asking that people give us a chance to see what happens next,” Abrahams said.

Among those accompanying Minister Abrahams on the almost hour-long tour were Permanent Secretary in the Ministry of Home Affairs Deborah Payne, acting Vice Principal of the GIS Seileste Bradshaw and chairman of the GIS Apostle Dr Lucille Baird.

Managing Director of Front House Designs Studio Raquel Thompson explained that the project included renovations to several buildings on campus to make them fit-for-purpose. She said the project started on June 20 and so far, there have been no delays that would jeopardise the September 9 completion date.

“The contractor is moving pretty quickly so there is no reason to think that we wouldn’t be able to meet that date. We are doing the mess hall, we are doing the staff lounge. We are upgrading the clinic and doing a small extension to the clinic.

“In the clinic there are going to be two doctor’s offices or nurse offices and we are renovating the recreation block to include classrooms, a computer room and a library. We are basically upgrading the girls’ dorm to allow for privacy and security for the girls,” Thompson added.

“We are doing some minor things in the boys’ dorm and bringing their quarantine accommodation up-to-scratch. In the detention block, we are making those rooms fit-for-purpose and upgrading the camera security throughout the campus,” Thompson noted. The detention rooms would be equipped with prison-grade furniture which means that the bedframe is secured to the floor and measures are put in place to prevent the toilet in the room from being taken apart.

Acknowledging that “prison-grade” may sound harsh, she explained: “It will still have a mattress, it will still have a sheet. They still are able to have pillows. So it’s just a measure so that a student or ward is not able to injure themselves,” she said.

The architect also indicated that the security component to the contract includes the installation of cameras and monitors that will be placed at control points to be monitored by staff.

Sydney Blenman, Managing Director of CRS Building and Maintenance is the contractor assigned to the project, while Matthew Lashley from DLN Consultants is the structural engineer.

anestahenry@barbadostoday.bb