To say that the physical environment at the University of Guyana (UG) is disgraceful would be to make a colossal understatement. Over the years, students have complained about, among other things, broken toilets, leaking roofs, damaged furniture, sweltering heat in some buildings as a result of damaged air conditioning units, animals roaming the campus and thick bushes in sections which encourage the breeding of mosquitoes and could provide cover from where bandits could pounce on unsuspecting passersby. These issues have largely continued to fester. Repairs have been done here and there, always with the outlay of huge sums for contractors, but problems persist and new ones arise every day.
Three years ago, back in early 2012, UG staffers decided to stage a sit-in; their grievances included the treatment meted out to some staff members, as well as the deplorable physical conditions at the university. The roof of the George Walcott Lecture Theatre (GWLT), for example, was leaking so badly, an iconic photograph of a student sitting in the lecture hall under an umbrella was doing the rounds. The students had then joined the protest and ‘Operation Rescue UG’ was born.
The authorities subsequently repaired the GWLT roof and brightened up the façade with paint; a few toilets might have been repaired as well. The lecturers returned to work and the students to their classes. However, UG was far from rescued and the general rundown conditions persisted, growing worse over time.
Today, UG staff and students are back on the picket line. The lecturers have taken industrial action over pay increases; the students are protesting against the neglect and rot of the physical and other conditions. They are also in support of the lecturers’ action.
Sadly, the deterioration being seen at the university is not confined just to UG. In fact, it is very well known, and has been ventilated ad nauseam in this column, namely, that this government has a serious issue with fixing things. This must be the only country in the world where the government builds things, schools more particularly and roads, and expects them to last for years without any protective or corrective maintenance being done. Then, when they are finally unbearably ramshackle, there has to be an outlay of huge sums of money to fix them, of course to the inconvenience of the users.
Authorities are often quoted at various commissioning ceremonies (of course the repaired building must be re-commissioned to allow for the usual parade of soapbox orators) asking the ‘beneficiaries’ to care the building in question. And of course they should. But when a school has a population of say 3,000 children of varying ages using a bank of some 10 toilets, the high volume of traffic means that the wear and tear would be rapid, even with the best will in the world. The life of such utilities could be prolonged of course by using very sturdy components to begin with and scheduled maintenance. Neither of these is done. It is not uncommon to visit a government building and find that the toilets are of non-commercial quality; the type you might use in your home.
In the case of the University of Guyana with its sprawling campus, what is needed is a facilities and operations department, which is a feature of universities the world over, its sole purpose being to maintain the facilities and keep them in good working order. These departments are usually staffed with licensed technical people in skills such as carpentry, electricity, painting, plumbing, landscaping and pest control, to name a few. Of course there are costs attached to maintaining such a department, but there are savings as well, the major one being that nothing that’s broken or damaged stays that way for more than a day or two. The result is minimum inconvenience and the negation of the necessity to find huge sums to fix things after they have totally broken down, rather than nipping minor faults in the bud.
In the local case there are other benefits that could be derived from having such a department. For example it could serve as a training ground for apprentices in certain skills areas, who could then earn a university certificate after they had proved their proficiency.
The entire University of Guyana Council should hang their heads in shame to have students protesting over reeking and backed-up toilets and the grass not being cut, to name a few of the more mundane demands they need addressed. How is it possible that government can pat itself on the back and boast of development when the country’s only university is in such a state? It is amazing, and speaks to the resilience of the students, that learning takes place under such abhorrent conditions. But putting up with certain conditions does not translate to accepting them.
