Almost a decade after the 2009 tsunami, construction will start soon on Taputapu Elementary School and the Early Childhood Education Center in the village of Poloa which were completely destroyed by the earthquake-triggered tsunami.
Funding of $3 million from the Federal Emergency Management Administration (FEMA) has been available since shorty after the tsunami for the school construction.
Due to land issues the project was delayed and from 2009 up to now, students from Fagamalo, Fagali’i and Poloa have been attending Alataua II Elementary School in Seetaga, .
This week, the Office of Procurement selected 3 different local construction companies to build the new Taputapu Elementary school and Poloa ECE.
Chief Procurement Officer, Dr. Oreta Crichton told KHJ News that 11 companies submitted bids for the project.
Building A has been awarded to Quality Painting for the amount of $644,400, Building B to Happy Trucking at the cost of $1,082,243 while the Early Childhood Center has been awarded to RM Construction at the cost of $614,304.