SANTA CRUZ, St Elizabeth — Administrators of St Elizabeth Technical High School are optimistic that the Government’s expenditure of approximately $310 million will allow for the full restoration of classes in time for the next academic year.

“The signs are there that we will be fully functional come September. As a matter of fact, we believe that will be better off as a school plant at the start of the new school year, so I want to acknowledge the support received from the Ministry of Education through the Minister and through the National Education Trust,” the school’s Principal Keith Wellington said on Thursday during STETHS’ graduation ceremony.

Education Minister Senator Dr Dana Morris Dixon said the expenditure is geared at making the school resilient.

“The Government… is spending $310 million to fix this school. Think about it, there are 400 schools that have been damaged across Jamaica and all of them you are trying to build back at the same time. You know that is a very difficult feat… it is very hard,” she said during the ceremony.

“Some are going faster than others. Some are going slower than I want. There are some where they have been having trouble with workers and you can see it when the schools are being repaired at the same time as houses and businesses are being repaired. There are some equipment shortages that some of the contractors have told us about. It is difficult, but the Government has committed millions of dollars to rebuilding our schools and STETHS gets one of the biggest numbers in that $310 million that has been allocated to this school,” she added.

The minister said the scope of work includes a redesigning of the male and female dormitories with reinforced concrete roof slabs and the introduction of supporting columns to provide increased structural stability.

“It is all about rebuilding better. The damaged teacher’s cottage is being outfitted with a standing seam [roof] and so will the principal’s cottage. The grade 11 block features reinforced purlins [roof] beneath the proposed 24-gauge industrial sheeting,” she outlined.

Principal of St Elizabeth Technical High School Keith Wellington addressing the graduation attendees. (Photo: Kasey Williams)

“They are going to be doing further work to ensure that we have resilience against extreme weather events. We are also reinforcing the remaining buildings and providing greater strength and resilience there. We will also strengthen the plant’s ability to withstand strong winds,” Morris Dixon added.

STETHS is located in the shadows of the Santa Cruz Mountains.

“It is a very beautiful site you are on, but it leaves you exposed to winds and heavy rainfall and other environmental stresses, so our goal is to improve the overall durability and longevity of the facilities,” the minister said.

Also during the ceremony Wellington, who said the school’s well has been a source of water for the town of Santa Cruz, called for a generator and a solar system to be installed at STETHS.

“From the hurricane experience, one of the greatest contributions that STETHS has made for the community is water. The washing of the town, the fire station, the clinics, the primary schools, the basic schools even to this day we are still having to support them with water. Minister, if there is a hurricane tomorrow we still don’t have a generator. We need a generator to run the well,” he appealed.

“We also need to ensure that if there is a hurricane and there are power outages STETHS is the shining light on the hill. We need to ensure that we are fully solar-powered,” Wellington added.

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(Video: Kasey Williams)