Demolition work to the former St Mary's Convent Primary School

Sandakan : The former St Mary’s Convent Primary School , situated at Church Hill Road, is to give way to the proposed Diocesan Pastoral cum Worship Centre. The two storey wooden building was built in 1954 and in 1998 was relocated to Mile 2 ½, Labuk Road.

The school, which is the first all girls school in the then British North Borneo, traces its history back to 1891 – a history of some 119 years. It was the Franciscan Missionaries of St Joseph who came with the foresight to provide education to the local girls and they built a simple attap-roof wooden building which came into operation on the 5^th November 1891.

During WW2, the building was razed to the ground. It was rebuilt in 1954. Over the years, the school flourished and became one of the most prominent mission schools providing excellent education to thousands of girls. Today, the popular school building has to make way for a Diocesan project.

The Diocesan Pastoral cum Worship Centre project headed by John Pang, is preparing the site for the construction of the said project to take off sometime next month. Demolition work to the building and site clearance was arranged and supervised by John Pang. The site is 80% cleared and will be ready by first week of September.

Over the weekend of 21^st and 22^nd August, some 30 volunteers from the BECs of Taman Indah, Taman Merak, Taman Fajar and individuals gathered at the site to lend a hand in the clearing work. The coming together of the members of BECs is a sign of growth in unity and close interaction, which could project community witnessing.

BECs continue to be the major source of renewal at the grassroots level. This expression of church at the base is a genuine experience of communion and participation.

There may be differences in thought among members, but there will be unity in action, for the motivating force of BECs is service.

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