EDUCATION and Youth Minister Fayval Williams says her ministry will, for the first time, utilise the emergency procurement process to ensure schools it has classified as priority one — those most severely damaged by the passage of Hurricane Beryl on July 3 — will be repaired in time for the reopening of the new school year on September 2.

Speaking at a post-Cabinet media briefing at Jamaica House on Wednesday, Williams noted that contractors have already started working on the 94 priority one schools, which 44,000 students attend, given that the damage was likely to prevent them from reopening for face-to-face classes.

“I think [it’s] only 25 of those schools that we have to finalise the assessment in order to be able to deploy the contractors. So we are well on our way with the priority one schools in the time we have left to ensure that they are ready for September 2,” said Williams.

She told the media briefing that the ministry had indicated, from the first day of seeing the rapid assessment of the damage to schools, that it would have to use the emergency procurement process, given the short space of time, approximately seven to eight weeks, in which to get the priority one schools operational.

Williams reiterated that 126 schools fall in priority two as they were moderately damaged but will require significant repairs; while the 109 schools which fall in priority three have sustained minor damage. However, the scope of that damage suggests that these schools can operate while the repairs are being done.

She said that in deciding on emergency procurement to effect immediate repairs, the Ministry of Education (MOE) consulted with the Ministry of Finance and the Public Service, the National Education Trust (NET), and the Technical Services Unit within the MOE “so they could ask any questions and feel comfortable that they are on good footing to deploy this methodology”.

“It is important to do this because emergency procurement is not a process that we have employed at the ministry, at least not since I have been there, and so we wanted to be guided. We are relying on the emergency procurement guidelines as detailed in the Government of Jamaica Handbook of Public Sector Procurement Procedures, and in particular, the section on procedures for the procurement of goods, general services, and works,” said Williams.

She said the finance ministry has indicated that the emergency procurement process “is a good policy on which we can stand”.

“So it allows us to do the emergency procurement for goods, services, or works in any circumstance in which the national interest and our national security considerations demand that the procurement be undertaken immediately…[and] there’s a national interest to see all of our schools open for face-to-face school on Monday, September 2,” said Williams.

She noted that the policy also stipulates the need for such procurement must be sudden, unexpected, and a pressing necessity or exigency, and that where an emergency situation exists, the procuring entity may engage a contractor by means of direct contracting.

“Contractors must be registered, possess a valid Tax Compliance Certificate prior to their award, and the head of the procuring entity shall give approval for the issuing of emergency contracts up to a maximum value of $100 million. This approval shall be in writing and shall form part of the procurement record to be kept by the entity,” she said.

The education minister further noted that contracts awarded under emergency circumstances shall commence immediately and that failure to execute such contracts within one month of approval will result in automatic reversion to the general procurement provisions. “So you can see we are under significant time pressures here,” she said.

“It is important for me to state this because I know that looking out three, four, five, six months, when this hurricane has receded in all of our minds and the ministry is called to the Parliament to explain the expenditure, I want all of us to remember that we declared upfront the procedure we’re using, the reason for it, and that all will be well when we’ve forgotten about the hurricane,” she said.

In the meantime, Williams said the ministry will be meeting with school board chairs and principals again this week to ensure that the schools can begin the regular school cleanup early, in the wake of Beryl. The normal cleanup or painting would start a week or two before schools reopen.

“We want our schools to start earlier. We’re asking our principals to begin no later than Monday, August 12th, just in case in the process of the cleanup items are discovered that need to be replaced or restored. And so we’re asking for this earlier deployment,” she said.

She noted as well that the ministry is ensuring grants to schools are processed earlier than normal and that the regions have some financial resources to help with minor repairs.