– after plight highlighted
Mahdia headmistress Vanessa Wilson-Johnson, who sought refuge under the stairs of a guesthouse because of the shoddy state of her designated quarters, has been moved into a “cozy room” in the regional guesthouse after meeting with ministry officials.
“I am so grateful that my situation was highlighted,” Wilson-Johnson said. “I want the public to know that I am now in a self-contained room in the regional guesthouse and I am relieved that this drama seems to be coming to an end. Sincerest thanks to the ministries and all who supported me.”
Wilson-Johnson, headmistress of the Mahdia Secondary School, had sounded her plea this week, begging that renovations be undertaken to the building assigned for her dwelling as it was “unlivable”, rodent and termite infested and in a dilapidated state. She was forced to seek refuge at a guesthouse and moved to a sofa under the stairs when she could no longer afford the room.
“I almost burst into tears when I arrived here. I was taken to a house and felt I was in a rat hole. In the advertisement for the post, it said a house would be provided but what they didn’t say was a broken and dilapidated one,” Wilson-Johnson told Stabroek News on Monday. “Wood ants eat out the wood. The utensils… it was if I was back in time. The bed was eaten by wood ants, the steps gone, the paint peeled …no stove, the house was a shell… it was a disaster,” she had added.
Minister of Local Government Ganga Persaud, at a Thursday press briefing, informed that plans had been made to have Wilson-Johnson move into a room in the regional guesthouse, as one occupant had checked out. He added that she will stay there until there is an agreement between her and officials responsible.
“…The district education officer, who was occupying one room at the guesthouse has since moved over to his quarters,” Persaud said. “A room will be made available to the head teacher, as an alternative, until an agreement is reached… so that she can occupy her quarters. We always try our best… We will continue to do that wherever we can…”
He listed the obligations of the government as regards public servants’ housing. “There are five basic things that are provided,” he said. “A dining table with a chair, a stove, if there is reliable supply of electricity then cold storage, a bed and a wardrobe.
Those are the part of the public service rules and have not changed. So it is not the administration’s responsibility to provide utensils, to provide television and all the other things and there is nothing in the legislation that says these things must be new…”
Regional Executive Officer (REO) Ronald Harsawack told Stabroek News that he will seek discourse with Wilson-Johnson on his return to the region, since he is currently in Georgetown.
He stated that he and the personnel under his responsibility will try to make the headmistress’s transition to the region as “smooth as possible”. Harsawack said the incident did not have to unfold under the public’s watch, since if Wilson-Johnson had from the inception sought to have talks, the issue would have long been resolved.
The headmistress had told this newspaper that, in accordance with Ministry of Education protocol, she had written to the Minister of Education through her District Education Officer, the Regional Education Officer and Harsawack. Up to when she spoke with this newspaper on Monday last, she had not received any correspondence from any of the parties although she would see Harsawack nearly every day.
Meanwhile, Harsawack said that if there is excess money from his region’s 2012 budget it will go towards rehabilitating the head teacher’s quarters.
