The activities for the planned renovation of San Bernardo School will actually start on Monday, August 12.
After the go-ahead for the renovation had been given in April this year, it appeared that the tendering procedure did not produce a contractor and a bid fitting the frameworks laid down. Therefore, in accordance with the tendering regulations, a negotiation process was gone through. Eventually the tender was awarded to BonNed Contractors BV. They will see to it that in 2014 the students and staff of Kolegio San Bernardo will have nice, safe and functional buildings at their disposal.
The Government Buildings Agency, which guides the school renovations in accordance with the Master Plan Educational Accommodation, places the new-construction and renovation projects on the market in accordance with the tendering regulations applicable on the market. During a tendering process, many factors play a role to guarantee that the projects are executed within the legal and financial frameworks. For contractors it is not always easy to meet all requirements.
BonNed Contractors BV has met all requirements. In the mean time they have been instructed to take the buildings of Kolegio San Bernardo in hand thoroughly: the roofs will be fully renovated, new windows and doors will be installed, the toilets will be renovated and they will be increased in number.
Additionally, the renovated buildings will be provided with new air-conditioning installations with fresh air-supply and CO2 meters. In addition, new areas with plants and shrubs will be put in and the school fence will be renewed.
During the renovation work the students will be accommodated in substitute classrooms. As from the start of the new school year, part of the students will take lessons in the empty rooms of the adjoining St. James Medical School. They have been fully furnished for the students of Kolegio San Bernardo.
Previous to the renovation, existing materials containing asbestos will be removed. From an earlier inventory it is known that the buildings of Kolegio San Bernardo contain asbestos holding materials. They are the roof boards, a number of ducts and some housings of columns on the ground floor. What is involved is harmless, so-called ‘friable asbestos’, of which the asbestos fibres are soundly bonded to the material. The situation has been investigated and the buildings have been found safe for use by the students and teachers. In spite of the fact that at the moment there are no health risks, all the asbestos will nevertheless be removed, so that also in the future the material cannot form any risk for the students and teachers.
The removal of the asbestos will be done outside working and school hours, and during week-ends and holidays. During the decontamination work the decontamination workers will fence off the site by means of fences, signs and warning tape. Upon removal, the material containing asbestos will be packed airtight and stored in containers in special bags. Removing the asbestos will be done in accordance with Dutch laws and regulations, as laid down in the 2005 Asbestos Removal Decree. Compliance with this law will be controlled by DROB, the Labour Inspectorate and an independent inspector.
The renovation process of Kolegio San Bernardo will be executed under the guidance of the Government Buildings Agency and forms part of the educational accommodation plans. These plans have been drawn up by the Public Entities, among which Bonaire, and the ministry of Education, Culture and Science (OCW). They contain the blueprint for improvement of educational accommodation throughout the Caribbean Netherlands, between 2012 and 2017.