Myriad issues ranging from a breakdown in communications to delays in the delivery of supplies have left students without balanced meals at the Desrey Fox Secondary School Dormitory in Waramadong, Upper Mazaruni Region Seven, according to responses from regional and national government officials.
Photos of students’ meals, described as “shine rice”, began surfacing on Facebook on Saturday and have made their way to the attention of policy makers at both Regional and National levels. An investigation has now been launched to determine what led to students not being able to receive balanced meals.
A post by John Adams, resident of Region 7 and who is familiar with the situation, said cooks at the dormitory kitchen have been experiencing difficulties in food preparation simply because there are currently shortages of key food items.
“They had no option but to cook what is available in the kitchen – shine rice was the main dish. The children were served plain rice/shine rice this week and sadly they were given that for lunch and dinner today, Saturday”, he stated in his post. Adams added that a similar situation occurred in April.
Meanwhile, several other persons familiar with the situation at the dormitory shared Adams’ post and concurred with Adams’ observations. One teacher said, “There is no false information to this… the students are uncomfortable. The current situation is that there [has been] no electricity for the past 4 nights and [we are] very, very low on food stuff. In fact, every morning breakfast is bread and jam since last week. I would… appreciate regular visits from the higher authorities within the region and the central offices to [come and] see the condition for themselves.”
Regional Chairman, Kenneth Williams, on Sunday told Stabroek News that he is gravely concerned about the unfolding situation at the dormitory.
“The supply issues facing this institution are not insurmountable and must be fixed now… supplies are scheduled to [be] delivered today but the system has to be improved without reservation. Every stakeholder – RDC, Administration and Department of Education must agree to collectively fix the issues now…” Williams stressed. He stated it has been revealed, from preliminary reports, that there are perennial issues with contracts for supplies, which might have caused unacceptable delays in the timely delivery of fuel, meat and vegetables.
According to Williams there have been communication issues in relation to immediate and pressing issues. He noted that there has been an absence of effective communication between the Dormitory Administration, the Education Department and the Contractor. The Regional Chairman also stated that the [current] budgetary allocation might be inadequate for the dormitory given that students are returning to school. Nonetheless, he said that they must have the situation rectified, and to his knowledge, supplies were scheduled to be delivered on Sunday.
In brief comments, Minister of Education Priya Manickchand said she is also concerned at the situation. However, though it is education-related it does not fall under her ministry but rather under the Ministry of Local Government and Regional Development. She however committed to investigating the matter and intends to send a team to Waramadong this week. In her view there are solutions to all problems and she believe that if it is a situation with supply, necessary steps must be taken to remedy that issue. Efforts to contact Minister for Local Government and Regional Development Nigel Dharamlall were futile.
