Ganja farm found by parents at unfinished Hindu school in Trinidad

Local government councillor Chris Hosein with a police officer holding some of the marijuana plants found at the school.

(Trinidad Express) A protest at the unfinished Reform Hindu School turned into a police investigation on Friday.

Parents entered the compound overgrown with bushes and discovered several marijuana plants.

Inside the classroom, parents found a makeshift bed, two chairs and a clothing line.

 
Local government councillor Chris Hosein, who accompanied parents, said he was informed that a man claiming to be a security guard was seen on the compound. But he was uncertain who hired the security guard.

There were pieces of clothing on the line and a small radio was on the bed. Hosein said no one was inside the building when they arrived.

In another classroom, parents found a kitchen outfitted with stove and utensils.

But parents were furious when they discovered several marijuana plants on the compound, he said.

The Gasparillo police were contacted and the plants were uprooted.

“This morning it is with a heavy heart that I join the understandably frustrated members of the PTA of the Reform Hindu School as yet again we are clamouring for the Government to complete the new Reform Hindu School which was started under the PP (People’s Partnership) government and abandoned by this Government,” he said.

The new school was 95 per cent completed when the People’s National Movement (PNM) was elected to office in 2015, Hosein said.

Hosein said pupils were currently cramped in small classrooms located on the compound of the Reform Shiva Mandir.

He said it is clear the Government had no interest in looking after the citizens of Trinidad and Tobago “as our children continue to suffer”.

Parents have held numerous protests in recent years.

“After several protests and attempts of reaching out to the Minister of Education with nothing but broken promises, I am now calling on the Prime Minister to adjust his priorities and demand that the Reform Hindu School be completed and opened,” he said.

And should no action be taken, Hosein said, parents were prepared to take further protest action.

Minister in the Ministry of Education Dr Lovell Francis said he was not aware of the discovery.

Francis was unable to confirm whether a security guard was stationed at the school.

In a text message to the Express, Francis said, “Thanks for the update. Will investigate.”