SOUTH REWARD--Education Minister Rita Bourne-Gumbs and other officials turned the sod on Friday at the official groundbreaking for the construction of four new classrooms for St. Maarten Vocational Training School (SMVTS).
SMVTS has about 250 students and is bursting at its seams. The project for the new classrooms was more than 10 years in the making and encountered numerous challenges in the past. One challenge was obtaining the land from the former Central Government of the former Netherlands Antilles. Even after the land had been transferred to the St. Maarten Government, budget constraints delayed the project for quite some time.
Emile Lake has been secured as the contractor for the project. The construction of the new classrooms has begun and is expected to be completed by the end of the year. The new classrooms are being constructed adjacent to the current SMVTS building. The entire area will be merged to double the size of the campus.
Officials said at the ceremony that this was one of the few government projects taking place currently. Education Minister Rita Bourne-Gumbs was lauded for doing a good job fighting for the project despite budget woes.
