Construction on the expansion of the University of the West Indies Five Islands Campus could start as early as February next year.

Education Minister Daryll Matthew said the government will break ground on the first set of buildings during that time.

“What the Saudi delegation did when we met them a week ago is to separate the two. The commencement of the construction of the Campus is a more involved process. We need to hire a project consultant who will work on the construction, design, and engineering drawings. We need to get planning permission and go into the tender for the different components of the project. That is a very involved project and that will take time,” he said

“Between now and then, we have put together a project management unit, which incorporates representatives of the university, representatives of our Ministry of Finance and Works, and representatives of the Saudi Fund”, Matthew added

Matthew, in an interview with State Media, said the Project Management Unit will work with a consultant to create the design and construction drawings.

He said however, while preliminary work is ongoing at the university, work on the primary school would have already started

“We are currently in the stage of producing the construction drawings. We expect to have them probably by the end of July

It will take about 6-8 months to finish the new primary school