Regional Education Officer of Region Six Shafiran Bhajan has said that the regional administration had dispatched workers to address the situation at the Mibikuri Primary School, immediately after receiving complaints.
Bhajan, in a press release, said that “immediately after news of the stench of floodwaters reached the Department of Education on February 22, 2011 a team from the Works Department was dispatched to the school by the Regional Chairman [Zulfikar Mustapha].” According to the release, no leakage to the septic tank was found but flies and maggots under the damp grass in the school yard were discovered.
A parent had told this newspaper that an overflowing septic tank was responsible for the flies and maggots, while the flooded playfield had dead fish. The parent had also said that children were vomiting and suffering from diarrhoea. Bhajan lashed out against the report in this newspaper, while recommending that information from subjective sources is verified before publication.
According to Bhajan, the school, which is located in Black Bush Polder, was monitored on a daily basis by Regional and Education Officials. He said there is no existing fish pond kept by the school and he also denied that there was any related illness of children. “With the approval of health officials who visited the school and took soil and water samples, the building is currently being prepared for re-occupation on Monday, March 14, 2011,” he further added.
On Mustapha’s orders, excavators were sent in to clear drains while Bhajan relocated classes to three different locations on February 24.
Mustapha told Stabroek News that he had met with about 100 parents of the school yesterday and arrangements were made for the washing of the school building and ploughing of the schoolyard. He pointed out that these were recommendations by the parents.
Mustapha stated too that while there is a stench coming from the school, it is not from the septic tank. It is believed that it may be sourced from a carcass in the bushes in the perimeter of the school compound. Those bushes are being cut down too, he noted. The school was fumigated on February 28, following the recession of flood waters.
