Former gov’t paid T&T firm for deficient foundation design for St. Rose’s school

Under the former government, the Ministry of Education made full payments on a contract to a Trinidadian firm for design and supervision services for the construction of a new St. Rose’s High School building, including foundation designs that were later found to be inadequate and required the hiring of more consultants for redesigns.

In the Report on the Public Accounts for 2019, which was released by the National Assembly last week, Auditor General Deodat Sharma highlighted the fact that supervising consultants failed to administer contracts in the best interests of the Ministries/Departments.

One such instance related to the construction of St. Rose’s High School, where the Byno-Rowe Wiltshire Partnership of Trinidad and Tobago was retained. Additionally, advance payments totalling a little under $90 million were made to Courtney Benn Contracting Services for the construction, which has still not progressed beyond initial stages.