New Hinterland Dorm 75% completed – students to take up residence in September
DPI, Guyana, Friday, April 6, 2018
The construction of the new $186M Hinterland Dormitory at Liliendaal, East Coast of Demerara, is 75 percent complete. The facility, which caters to hinterland students pursuing tertiary education in Georgetown, will be completed by August 2018.
A section of the Hinterland Dormitory under construction at Liliendaal, East Coast Demerara.
Minister of Indigenous Peoples’ Affairs, Sydney Allicock conducted a site visit to the facility today. He expressed satisfaction with the progress made, given the challenges encountered by the contractor during the early stages of building last year.
“We are off to a good start and I feel very pleased that things are on stream. The anticipation is to have the students occupying the building by September. By June, we will have a fair idea of how it will look and from that, we will begin to make preparation to ensure that everything is in place for the students to occupy the facility,” Minister Allicock explained.
Located in the same geographic space as the current Hinterland Student Dormitory, the facility will include sixteen (16) apartments, each housing six (6) students. The apartments will be outfitted with a kitchenette, toilet and bath area and also a study area, while the dormitory itself will also have a cooking area, a library, and a playroom.
Minister of Indigenous Peoples’ Affairs, Sydney Allicock.
According to the minister, the facility will initially cater for 120 students attending the University of Guyana (UG), the Cyril Potter College of Education (CPCE), the Government Technical Institute (GTI), and Carnegie School of Economics; however, given the amount of space each room has, it will cater for an additional 10 students.
Minister Allicock told the Department of Public Information (DPI) that the ministry is exploring the opportunities of having a recreational facility constructed for the students.
“Space is of a concern but we have to continue to discuss this to see if we will be able to share the land space between the other dorm and the present one. otherwise, we will have to try to do some adjustments to ensure these students have some sort of activity during their leisure time.”
Additionally, a road leading directly to the new facility will be constructed, to avoid students having to traverse through the current facility where the secondary students are housed. Permission was already granted by the Guyana Lands and Survey Commission (GLSC) to have the road built.
Meanwhile, a fence will be constructed to separate the two buildings, to avoid intermingling between the tertiary and secondary students.
The project is a rollover from the Indigenous Peoples’ Affairs Ministry’s 2017 budget. This year, some $90M was allocated for its completion. The contractor for the project is BK International and is being supervised by Kalitech Incorporated; a consultancy firm.
In recent years, an estimated 600 students have benefited from hinterland scholarships to attend tertiary institutions on the coast.
The road leading to the construction site.
Minister of Indigenous Peoples’ Affairs, Sydney Allicock along with the foremen reviewing the building’s plan at the construction site.
By: Synieka Thorne