Moneague fire to delay school year

Carl Gilchrist, Gleaner Writer

A massive fire Sunday evening destroyed a section of the Moneague Teachers' College in St Ann, leaving damage expected to run into millions of dollars.

The block which was destroyed housed around eight classrooms, more than 12 offices for lecturers, residences for tutors, a music room, a photocopying room, storage areas and other facilities.

It is unclear what started the fire but a security guard who was on duty at the time told The Gleaner that he saw the fire at about 5:30 p.m. and called the fire department. However, several residents of the Moneague community said they saw fire at the facility before 5 o'clock

Up to 9 p.m., four fire trucks from Ocho Rios and St Ann's Bay were still fighting the blaze but had contained any possibility of it spreading.

The fire is expected to hamper the new school year, expected to start in three weeks.

A hastily convened staff meeting shortly after 8 p.m. yesterday saw two vice-principals assuring lecturers that every effort would be made to return the situation to normal.

Orientation setback

Vice-principal Jacqueline Thames later told reporters that orientation, which was originally set for August 23, may have to be pushed back a week or two. She explained, however, that most of the records and other important documents at the college are housed in the other administrative block that was spared.

At the time of the fire, five lecturers were said to be in residence at the institution. No one was injured.

Thames said the destroyed administrative block was the original Moneague Hotel, one of the first hotels to be built in Jamaica, constructed around 1891.

The building was a heritage site.

Member of Parliament Lisa Hanna, who visited the site last night, appealed to the authorities for a fire unit for the South East St Ann constituency, where the college is located.