Flood-hit East Coast schools expected to resume classes on Monday

The main drain in front of the Vryheid’s Lust Primary School.
The main drain in front of the Vryheid’s Lust Primary School.

Authorities were up to yesterday continuing to work to restore classrooms and the surroundings at flood-hit schools along the East Coast of Demerara to facilitate the resumption of classes at the earliest possible time.

Dr. Karen Cummings, Minister within the Ministry of Public Health, along with a technical team from the ministry and regional officials yesterday visited some of the affected schools to assess the aftermath of the flooding and disseminate information to the head teachers on hygiene and effectively cleaning up.

The schools which were visited included Chateau Margot Primary, Vryheid’s Lust Primary and Better Hope Nursery School. Although the water has significantly receded, cleaning and sterilising of the surroundings took some time. However, the schools are expected to reopen on Monday.

While the Chateau Margot and Better Hope schools had fairly dry surroundings, the compound of the Vryheid’s Lust school was still water-logged.

The main drain in front of the school was clogged with growing weeds, while the western end of the school fence was encumbered with squatters. An ICT tower was erected on a plot of land in front of the building and the site was built up, leaving the school on lower grounds and blocking the drainage of the water from the school compound.

The tower, which was intended to be used as part of the former administration’s now suspended e-governance project, was built with the permission of the former Office of the President.

During yesterday’s visit, animals were also observed in the school compound. Officials said they were able to enter after the fence was vandalised by the squatters.

Minister Cummings promised to tackle the problem along with the help of the Neighbourhood Democratic Council (NDC). “We are working with our team to ensure that everything is arraigned with the NDC to ensure that the schools will be opened in a shortest time,” Cummings said.

Yesterday was World Environment Day and Cummings highlighted that the ministry is working to protect the environment by ensuring that the waterways are free of solid waste.

“As you know, solid waste impacts greatly on health and clogged drains result in more floods than usual, so we definitely want to stress to keep the environment and yards clean,” she said.

“At the ministry level, we want to ensure that we manage things effectively and we are working with the environmental health council and with the NDC to ensure that the drains are clean and not clogged with solid waste materials,” the minister added, while she noted that the ministry wants to promote a health-supported environment.

The minister also spoke of intersectional collaboration with the NDC to offer assistance and create a partnership and build capacity to reduce the negative health impacts from flooding.

A disaster plan will be looked at which will include the training of teachers to effectively handle these situations, the minister added.