Hon Rolston Anglin Minister of Education

By Mwangi Ngamate
Mwangi@caymannetnews.com

Tom Jones International last week halted construction at both the Clifton Hunter and John Gray High School construction sites, reportedly citing a lack of sufficient government funding.

However, the Minister of Education, Hon. Rolston Anglin, has said he had already made contingency plans to ensure that education continued with or without the completion of the campuses.

“When we got into government I assembled the technocrats to ensure that in a worst case scenario secondary school education would continue,” he said.

Speaking while at a Tertiary Education conference in Antigua last week, the education minister told Cayman Net News that he had worked diligently on what was humanly possible to ensure that work at both campuses was completed at by the end of the year.

“However,” he noted, “the contractor was bent on holding the country at ransom by making unwarranted and unreasonable demands; that were not in the best interests of the Cayman Islands.”

The Minister said that the contractor should feel free to stop working on the two sites, as he (Mr Anglin) was not going to be intimidated like the previous education minister, Alden McLaughlin.

“I am not going to be cowed like the previous minister into signing agreements that are unreasonable,” Mr Anglin said.

“Representatives from Tom Jones International (TJI) advised that they intend to stop working on 13 November at both the John Gray and Clifton Hunter campuses, based on their belief that the Cayman Islands Government has insufficient funding to complete the projects,” Mr Anglin said in a press statement.

“As outlined in the 2009-10 budget, government has all the necessary funding to meet our obligations for these projects. We have also budgeted contingency funds, in the event that these are necessary to cover any claims made by TJI,” the statement continued.

The Minister noted that sufficient provision has been made for the completion of the projects, and this ongoing commitment has been communicated to TJI. Furthermore, all certified payments due to TJI have been made, and there are currently no outstanding amounts due.

“Notwithstanding that all the payments have been made, the government has also been negotiating in good faith with TJI to provide significant additional funding to assist both TJI and its main sub-contractor in making advance payments.

“As recently as Tuesday (10 November), the government had been advised by TJI that the documentation to support this additional funding was agreed in principle. The government was therefore finalising this agreement and had every expectation that this would signal a productive way forward and ensure that the projects would be successfully completed,” the statement said.

The Minister has expressed surprise at TJI’s change in position and its intention to halt work on the site. He noted however that the government is committed to the completion of the schools projects.

“We are currently considering all our options, in our determination to move forward, and if necessary will pursue all remedies available,” Mr Anglin said.