Students housed at the Kwakwani, Berbice River Hostel were fed egg and rice, black tea and diluted porridge after supplies at the institution ran out.
And several students refused the meals yesterday morning and opted to go hungry for the day. However, Stabroek News understands that some $34.5M had been released for dietary support for the two hostels in Region 10.
The dire situation at the Kwakwani hostel surfaced yesterday morning when a concerned resident overheard several of the students complaining to the security guard at the secondary school that they had no meals before leaving for school.
The situation was immediately reported to Regional Democratic Councillor (RDC) Byrone Lewis who said he promptly informed the regional authorities.
“I got this report from two persons this morning (Tuesday) so I decided to go check for myself,” said Lewis. Following a check with the house mother, Lewis said that he was informed that supplies had run out since Sunday and the children have been eating egg and rice, black tea, and a little porridge.
One resident said that she was saddened by the situation, and contended that it was unfair to the children as they are currently doing end-of-term examinations and are extremely stressed because of the poor meals they have been receiving.
“There are so many wrongs going on at that hostel but persons don’t want to talk out because they usually feel the squeeze,” she stated.
A check of the cupboards and fridge revealed a scant supply of white rice and two buckets of water in the freezer. “That’s all they had in there, no meat … no potatoes no nothing but lil rice and ice water making ice,” said Lewis.
“She (the house mother) said that when things like this happen she usually uses her own money to buy rations and for this afternoon (yesterday) she bought chowmein and tuna fish to cook for them, but she can’t keep doing this because she ran out of money right now.”
It was reported that a request for supplies was sent to the department of education over three weeks ago, but it was not until word got around about the egg and rice that supplies were reportedly dispatched by the Regional Administration from Linden.
This was confirmed by Regional Executive Officer (REO) Henry Rodney who when initially contacted indicated that he had no knowledge of the shortage. He subsequently related that checks with the supervisor in the area indicated that the children were fed but there were limited supplies for yesterday afternoon.
“We loaded the truck last evening (Monday) and it left for Kwakwani this morning,” Rodney stated.
Regional Education Officer Claude Johnson was out of the area yesterday and could not be reached for comment.
District Education Officer (Secondary) Jennifer Bourne who, according to reliable sources, has direct responsibilities for school hostels in Region 10 indicated that she was on her computer and could not take any calls when Stabroek News attempted to ascertain how long the department was in receipt of the request for supplies and if it was dispatched to the regional administration in a timely manner for processing.
The hostel is reported to be accommodating about 43 students who hail from DeVeldt, Wikki, Calcuni, Wiruni, Ebini, St. Lust, Ituni, Coomacka, Berbice River, among several other communities.
Regional Chairman and Chairman of the RDC education committee Mortimer Mingo expressed shock and disgust at the situation. He said that he learnt of the students’ plight around mid-morning yesterday and immediately wrote Rodney informing him of the situation and seeking an explanation.
“This situation ought not to be because I am well aware that $34.5M was allocated in this year’s recurrent budget.”
Mingo emphasized that the RDC views and respects the welfare of the students entrusted to their care very seriously and therefore expects the Regional Administration to place extremely high priority on ensuring that students are well taken care of.
In the meantime, over the past three days there have been advertisements on the local NCN for a house mother and supervisor in the Kwakwani, Berbice River area.
