By Chantalé Fletcher
THE Education Facilities Company Limited (EFCL) has experienced significant amount of debt due to unsustainable school projects.
Leader of Government Business Clarence Rambharat made the statement in the Senate on Friday.
He was answering a question by Opposition Senator Wade Mark on the financial status of the EFCL on behalf of the Minister of Education Nyan Gadbsy-Dolly.
Rambharat said, “The EFCL is managing a massive debt burden.”
He said, “The situation was brought on by an overly ambitious and unsustainable school construction programme embarked on the year 2010 to 2015, with several large contracts awarded in the last two years of the former administration tenure.”
The United National Congress (UNC)-led People’s Partnership government was in power during this period.
“More recently, in its current mode of operations, the EFCL faces many constraints that have compromised its capacity to fulfill its mandate. Cognizant of its composition responsibility to provide and maintain a supportive environment at the nation’s school at all levels; pre-primary, primary and secondary.”
Rambharat said, “The Ministry of Education took practical steps to ensure the continuance of its programs reconstruction and repair of the schools infrastructure, by transferring the agency for essential product project management services from the EFCL to the National Maintenance Training and Security Company Limited (MTS).”
In addition, he said that MTS has been rendering required project management services on the behalf of the Ministry of Education since 2018.
Rambharat said, “On the conduct of repairs, improvement and construction of Early Childhood Care and Education Centers, Primary and Secondary schools, as a result, work on the school’s infrastructure is still ongoing and continues.”
However, a supplemental question by Mark regarding the sums owed by EFCL to agencies regarding contractors was not allowed by Senate President Christine Kangaloo.
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