KINGSTON, Jamaica — The Government says it is ensuring greater accountability and transparency in the management of school repairs being undertaken following Hurricane Melissa.

As part of this process, information related to the rehabilitation projects will be posted on the websites of the Ministry of Education, Skills, Youth and Information and the National Education Trust (NET).

Portfolio Minister, Senator Dr Dana Morris Dixon, made the disclosure during a post-Cabinet press briefing at Jamaica House on July 15.

“In terms of this accountability factor, we will be publishing all the work that is out there, that has been put out to repair our schools. You will see the quantum as in how much the contract is, you will see which contractor was given the job, you will see the expected completion date and you will see comments,” she said.

Morris Dixon said that the information will be updated twice monthly. “Some schools were to be finished over the summer but there are some schools where we have to do fundamental changes, and so I have some that go up to 18 months of work depending on the nature of the damage. So, you will see that update… so that you can track it,” she pointed out.

The minister indicated that the pace of repair of some schools is being impacted by a shortage of labour, among other issues.

“The reality is we have a limited number of contractors and contractors have indicated that they have issues with finding labour and they have also indicated that they have issues with supplies sometimes and so we are still working with the contractors to move them along as quickly as we can,” she said.

She informed that in the coming weeks, representatives from the ministry will be on the ground “working with the contractors, seeing what’s happening on the ground so we can intervene where it’s necessary”.

More than 600 educational institutions across Jamaica sustained damage during the passage of Category 5 Hurricane Melissa.

— JIS