Harrington Sound Primary School.

"We have decided to authorise the insurance company to proceed with the re-building of Harrington Sound,'' Minister of Works and Engineering Alex Scott told The Royal Gazette yesterday.

"The process of re-building has begun. The insurance company will put in place all the appropriate processes.'' The main block of the Smith's Parish school was gutted after a trio of suspected teenage arsonists set fires in February.

None of the suspects have been brought to trial yet.

Since the fire, the student body has been divided with lower years housed in undamaged buildings at Harrington Sound and upper years using classrooms at The Opportunity Workshop on Roberts Avenue, Devonshire.

Yesterday, Mr. Scott said the rough estimate to restore the building and bring it up to code with current safety guidelines was three quarters of a million dollars.

And he said Government was aiming to complete the work by the start of the new school year.

Officials previously stated the school might undergo upgrades to its design, Mr. Scott said these were no longer being considered.

"There seems to be a keen interest by the parents that it be done by September so that need makes it important that we deal with the practical considerations,'' he said.

"Any embellishment of it (the school) will be done over a longer period of time.

"We're not going to let anything practical, if we can, stand in the way (of a September completion).'' Mr. Scott also dismissed earlier reports that "quarrels'' over insurance estimates had bogged down negotiations. "Basically the Government just had to make sure we dotted all the i's and crossed all the t's,'' he said.

Brian Foster, manager of Centurion Insurance Services Ltd., said the firm had not yet established a timetable for demolition and re-construction as architects were still in the process of drafting final plans.

Following their completion, officials will still have to seek planning approval and put the contract out to bid.

"It will probably be a few months yet,'' he said.

But he added: "Every effort will be made to open the school in a timely and efficient fashion.'' Harrington Sound's principal Beverley Daniels yesterday said she was excited to hear of the progress and was cautiously optimistic plans would proceed quickly.