Minister within the Local Government Ministry Norman Whittaker is surprised at protest action taken by Port Kaituma residents over the state of the community primary school, saying that the situation was expected to be addressed soon.
However, residents of the community noted yesterday that their concerns were being vented for the first time on Monday and according to them, they will continue to protest the shortcomings in the region until they are addressed.
According to the Government Information Agency (GINA), Whittaker stated that a team of officials from the North West District (NWD) region, including the Regional Executive Officer (REO) Nigel Fisher and Assistant REO Deon Seecharan, visited the community last Thursday to carry out a survey of the school buildings and surroundings.
Whittaker said that the team visited the primary school and updated headmistress Sharon Murray on the plans for assisting the institution with its infrastructure under the region’s 2012 budget. He added that Murray discussed several issues with the team and he noted that the team spoke about overcrowding, furniture shortage, the sanitary conditions and insufficient water capacity.
Further, Whittaker told GINA that it was decided that as soon as the region receives its full supply of desks and benches for the new year, 40 pairs would be made available for the school to address the furniture shortage there. He said too that an extension to the school in the form of an annex was proposed and the facility is expected to house some 80 students. It was also agreed that the sanitary blocks and the other main programmes would have been addressed under the 2012 education budget.
Whittaker expressed surprise “that the same headmistress that met with this team and agreed to these conditions was the following day (January 15) present at a Community Teacher Association (CTA) meeting where the decision was taken to protest against the same issues that were on the roster to be resolved,” GINA stated. He said that reports were that one of the parents took the decision to secure the gate leading to the school with a padlock and later in the afternoon Seecharan and the police intervened but by this time most of the students had long gone home.
He criticized the actions of the teachers and Murray, noting that the teachers were misled since the issues were being addressed.
But residents of the community told this newspaper that the minister’s comments should not have been directed at the teachers of the school, since it was the parents who took action and protested the situation.
Parent Onika Henry told this newspaper that the residents were optimistic of having their concerns addressed, while noting that their children’s futures are at stake.
Yesterday afternoon the parents of students attending the school were expected to meet with education and regional officials at the community and they were expected to voice their concerns surrounding the school and other issues affecting the community.
On Monday, residents protested the condition of the roads and the environs of the community and their actions resulted in the Neighbour-hood Democratic Council (NDC) putting measures in place to fix sections of the roads within the community which have been in an impassable state.
