Bunting calls on Ministry of Education to address dilapidated state of Manchester school - Jamaica Observer

Source: Jamaica Observer

MANCHESTER, Jamaica -- People's National Party representative for Manchester Southern, Peter Bunting says the deplorable conditions of classrooms at the Pratville Primary School pose a risk to students even as he called on the Ministry of Education to swiftly address the issue.

Pratville Primary is located in southern Manchester.

Bunting, who was among volunteers at the school on Labour Day, said classrooms at the institution are dilapidated.

"We contributed cement for the Labour Day project to do patching in the school yard. We also got an opportunity to do a tour of the facilities... the dilapidated state of the plant and buildings. Some sections particularly the infant school section it looks like chichi alone is holding up the partitions and some of the doors," he said.

He said the school needs extensive repairs.

"In the main block for grades three, four, five and six the corrosion in the steel structure is reaching to the point where the actual load bearing capacity of these beams and columns must be in question. Grade six is a disgrace. The roof is leaking. In fact, the students have had to be removed from those classrooms for the last two terms and quite frankly the hazard of electrocution of students is extremely high, because the water is pouring into the roof into the electrical panel into electrical conduits and it is purely by the grace of God that a child hasn't been hurt or killed in an accident," he said.

"I am calling on the Minister of Education to as a matter of urgency address the conditions of the school. We owe it to the 200 and odd children who attend this school on a weekly basis," added Bunting.

The Opposition Senator chided the Government over the revelation that nearly $360 million was paid over by the Tax Administration Jamaica (TAJ) in a lease for an unoccupied building in Mandeville based on a report.

The Auditor General report said the TAJ is yet to occupy the building it leased in Greenvale, Mandeville, despite spending a total of J$356.8 million as at August 31, 2023.

"When you think of the $400 and odd million that the Government has spent paying for an unoccupied building in Mandeville in this same parish since 2019 when they signed the lease and that [money] could build an entirely new school here," said Bunting.

He also criticised the management of resources for communities to benefit from the bauxite/ alumina industry.

"When you consider the value that has been extracted by the bauxite/ alumina industry from the communities surrounding the school, it is absolutely unacceptable that this is the condition of the school today," he said.