Nassau, The Bahamas – Students and teachers in Ragged Island are on target to open the doors to a new school in less than a year. The Hon. Desmond Bannister, Deputy Prime Minister and Minister of Works, announced that it is anticipated that the new school will be ready for occupation in January 2022.
Minister Bannister described the institution as a “model” for the construction of other schools to be built in the Family Islands, with modern and comfortable residential accommodations for teachers who are stationed on the southern island. The school will also serve as a hurricane shelter and is being built to withstand winds of 180 mph.
Minister Bannister made the announcement during his contribution to the mid-term Budget Debate in Parliament Thursday, March 11, 2021 as he answered a question posed by the Opposition regarding the timeline for the completion of the school.
He told Parliamentarians that it is a “monumental” task to manage the project and that construction is “most challenging.” Fortunately, he said, one of the most organized contractors in the country is supervising the project.
“It was mandated when Hurricane Irma decimated Ragged Island, which had a very old schoolhouse and a dilapidated teacher’s residence. At the time, very few buildings on Ragged Island met the building code. Many of them, like the Airport, had foundations that were just sitting in the sand.
“The contractor has employed more than 70 men to work on the project, and has hired every resident of Ragged Island who applied to work with him. Not one has been turned down. In order to commence work, he first had to build a man camp so that the workers can live in sanitary conditions as they work every day.
“Every week he has to send a barge with supplies to Ragged Island. He is continually transporting workers between Ragged Island and New Providence by charter aircraft, and prior to every trip they are all tested for COVID. I can announce that not a single worker on that project has tested positive for COVID 19,” said Minister Bannister.
