The Cheddi Jagan Lecture Rooms at the University of Guyana's Turkeyen Campus were yesterday officially handed over to the university, which is, according to Vice-Chancellor James Rose, relieved to have them.
"Thank you... and it would be nice [if you continue] to make such provisions in the future," Rose told the Trustees of the University of Guyana Endowment Fund which financed the construction of the $55 million building.
Dr Rose told those in attendance that the campus had not been expanded since its early days when it was intended to accommodate 500 students. Now the university is trying to accommodate over 5,000 students, a task which has proven difficult over the years with the limited teaching space.
Dr Rose said the new building had brought relief to the stress under which both lecturers and students worked.
According to the Cheddi Jagan Research Centre, the three-storey building, which has been in use since September, has four classrooms measuring 40 ft by 25 ft, with the capacity for 300 students on the second and top floors. The 95 ft by 25 ft ground floor houses the lecture theatre.
Chairman of the Endowment Committee, Yesu Persaud, said the donors who funded the construction include Omai Gold Mines Ltd, Barama, Bands DIH, Demerara Distillers Ltd, the National Bank of Industry and Commerce, as well as some smaller donors. Persaud also assured that no funding came from the government or any other politicians. Instead, he said, it was the charity of the private sector and some private donors who made the initiative possible.
Prime Minister Samuel Hinds, newly-appointed University Pro-Chancellor Dr Prem Misir and former president Janet Jagan were among those present at the ceremony.