Teachers and officials from the Ministry of Health touring the Lawrence T. Gay Memorial School earlier this week. (Photo by Vonardo Corbin)
By Vonardo Corbin on Thursday, 26 May, 2022 at 09:01 AM
The Ministry of Education says it is putting plans in place to accommodate the almost 200 students and teachers who are being affected by odors mostly on the east wing of the Lawrence T. Gay Memorial School.
Minister of Education, Technological, and Vocational Training, Kay Mcconney explained this when the Ministry of Education and Education officials toured the institution along with teaching staff earlier this week.
The miinister revealed that after investigations, the cause of the strange odors is still unknown.
During several visits to the school by officials from the ministry of health, and the environmental department, McConney stated that wells and all other areas on the school premises which could potentially be the source of the foul scents, were checked and it remains unclear what can be causing them.
“We have been informed that to date they have found nothing on the premises of itself which could be causing the odor and the discomfort of those who are here,” she said.
“The Ministry of Health, environmental department, they are continuing to investigate the surrounding areas,” she said.
Mcconney said she expects that those affected can be relocated to recommence face-to-face classes in the next few days.
“In the meanwhile we recognise that we have to make the students and the teachers far more comfortable and in a conducive environment for instruction and learning,” she explained.
“We are looking for alternative locations for those students and teachers who were on the eastern side of the facility, and we expect that within a number of days we will be able to relocate the class ones, the class twos, and the class threes, to an alternative location, albeit temporarily until we can bring this to some level of resolve,” she noted.
The minister also noted that her ministry has been in contact with some churches in the area on housing the students, but nothing has yet been confirmed.