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MARIGOT--Caisse Territoriale des Oeuvres Scolaires (CTOS) President Rosette Gumbs- Lake hosted a presentation at Nina Duverly School on Wednesday of a thorough study on the school canteens of the French side, the conclusion of which will see most canteens undergoing upgrades or renovations to bring them up to par with European standards.
The feasibility study was undertaken by the design cabinet Quidort Grandes Cuisine in January 2014 and completed in December 2014. The approximate 80,000 euro cost of the study was financed largely by European funds FEDER (87.27 per cent) and in part by the Collectivité and CTOS (13 per cent).
CTOS Director Elizabeth Tabari gave an overview of the study while Alain Quidort of the architectural and design bureau explained the technical aspects. CTOS Project Coordinator Elie Touze gave a tour of the Nina Duverly School canteen.
The study evaluated the condition and standards of all 19 school canteens on the French side before estimating the cost of renovations at each establishment. A disparity was noted between the very high standards set by the new Central Kitchen in Grand Case and the lower standards of most of the school canteens, in terms of updated health and hygiene regulations. The objective is for all canteens to conform to European norms in their daily operations.
The only school restaurant not included in the study is the new one at Collège Mont des Accords that also serves the Lycée. The Nina Duverly School canteen is the oldest one and has been earmarked for reconstruction.
The Central Kitchen, which opened in 2011, currently turns out 4,500 meals a day to the canteens although it has a capacity to produce 8,000 a day.
The study took into account, at each establishment, hygiene standards of employees, security and safety of food storage, working conditions, fire precautions, accessibility for persons of reduced mobility, earthquake proofing, state of physical construction (walls, ceilings, etc.) and more.
Renovations to the restaurants will be co-financed by the State and the Collectivité within the 2014-2020 Development Contract. The State is financing 100,120,000 euros, the Collectivité 200,200,000 euros for a total 300,320,000 euros.
However, this is less than the figure of 400,853,156 euros estimated by the study for renovation of all the establishments, including reconstruction of the Nina Duverly School canteen. CTOS indicated funding was still short by 851,258 euros without reconstruction at Nina Duverly or 100,533,156 euros including construction at Nina Duverly.
Therefore, it was decided to tackle priority issues at the canteens first with the available 300,320,000 euros and delay reconstruction of the Nina Duverly restaurant.
Rosette Gumbs-Lake presented the completed study to Préfecture Secretary-General Matthieu Doligez, who was representing the State. According to Doligez, the elementary school and kindergarten restaurants in French Quarter are two projects that will be addressed first.
