Schools Re-awakening project forges on despite few hiccups over land
The Schools Re-awakening project continues with renewed vigour despite a few hiccups with the allocation of suitable land for some sites.
The Apex Committee held a special meeting on Sunday with representatives of all Lead Clubs who were managing the construction of the new schools.
A lot of bottlenecks with the paperwork - mainly associated with the approval of final estimates and drawings, were sorted out immediately and many other teething issues resolved.
Seven schools have already commenced construction work and by the end of July, 16 of the 25 schools allotted to Rotary will have begun construction. A further five more schools will lay foundation stones by mid August.
The remaining four schools are all awaiting resolution of the allocation of suitable land for them to commence work. Locating suitable land has been difficult in some areas as the locations have to be within reasonable distance from the town to enable children to attend it, the extent of the land also must be big enough to accommodate the entire school and other infrastructure.
Although the Ministry of Education has worked tirelessly to acquire land for these schools, the acquisition process has taken some time owing to the fact that the lands are privately owned and the owners have opposed the acquisition.
The Ministry has assured us that by the middle of August most of the legal work connected with the acquisitions will be complete.
RI Director, Noraseth visited the Project Office and observed the Apex Committee at work. He was later given a full overview of the project and a status report on the progress to date. The Director was pleased with the progress and commended the committee for their professionalism and dedication.
The Rotary Club of Colombo Regency also presented Chairman Ravindran with a cheque for Rs 10M which they had received for the schools project.
