PETERSFIELD, Westmoreland — It will cost $1 billion each to repair at least two schools in Westmoreland, with many others estimated to cost more than $100 million as Government pushes to fix damage done by last year’s Hurricane Melissa in time for the new school term.

“Most of the schools, our bills are above $100 million. Unity [Primary School] is the highest one at $1 billion, but that’s similar to the amount spent for Manning’s [School],” stated Minister of Education Senator Dr Dana Morris Dixon.

“It’s a lot of money being spent. Across the board, every school that is damaged is being fixed. We started with the ones that are the most damaged. There are some other schools that had less damage that we are also going to be repairing, but we’ve started with those that have the most damage and need the repairs right away,” she added.

During a tour of Petersfield Primary and Infant School on Tuesday, the minister spoke frankly about the reconstruction process, in the parish, noting that tangible progress has been made on the Petersfield project since the start of work in May.

“The roof should be in place by next week on most of the blocks. So at least that’s a good sign. The windows are ordered and are coming in,” stated Morris-Dixon.

While classrooms should be ready for September, construction work will continue as a two-storey administrative block with additional classrooms is slated to be built from the ground up.

“There’s also supposed to be a brand-new block of about eight classrooms. Now, that work has not started; that will start in a couple of weeks, but that will not be finished for September. They’ll be doing that work throughout the term. And so, we’re hoping that in January, we’ll have all of the work completed,” the minister said.

She encouraged parents not to hesitate in sending their children back to the classroom.

“We’re doing the work. It’s going to be even better than it was before. Don’t worry, send your children out. It’s going to be a little bit of discomfort continuing in the first term, but the contractors have assured us that they’ll do the work that’s necessary so that when January comes, everything is done,” Morris-Dixon assured.

The Petersfield project is one of seven being undertaken by Archistruct Limited. The others include William Knibb High in Trelawny and five schools in St Ann. Company owner and managing director Chadwick Lawrence told the Jamaica Observer that the project was initially delayed by supply chain challenges.

“We had encountered just a couple of delays, which mainly boil down to the material supply due to the fact that there is such a demand now, based on the number of schools that are now under construction. What we have done is procure everything in advance when we realised things are running short. As we speak, all material is now either on site or purchased and at the supplier, just to be delivered to the site,” revealed Lawrence. “Definitely, we can look forward to a good September morning.”

On Tuesday, the minister also visited Darliston Primary School, Maud McLeod High School, and Unity Primary, which is one of the top primary schools in Westmoreland.

Unity, which has an enrolment of 1,400 children, has high demand and currently operates on a shift system. However, with the storm severely damaging the plant, a massive project is underway to not only repair the school but also upgrade it.

“We are re-slabbing the roof. They had zinc on their roof; we are going to be able to slab the roof there. So that’s a much better solution for us for the future in terms of resilience. We’re also building a new auditorium — the auditorium is being torn down. We’re also creating two sets of classroom blocks. We’re doing the perimeter fencing, we’re doing the bathrooms… it’s basically a brand-new school,” revealed Morris-Dixon.

“A lot of money is going into the repair of our schools, and we’re not just putting back what was there. With all the schools, you’re seeing them improve. The facilities are better than what was there before,”the minister stressed.

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