PM breaks students' hearts - Long wait for Golding's promise to address problems
Published:Sunday | November 28, 2010 | 12:00 AM
Tyrone Reid, Sunday Gleaner Reporter
TWO FORLORN students of the Port Maria Primary school in St Mary are demanding an apology and immediate action from Prime Minister Bruce Golding after he broke their hearts by not fulfilling a pledge he made to fix problems caused by flooding at their school.
Seventeen months after Prime Minister Golding invited the two young girls to Jamaica House and promised to have the nagging problem addressed, they are still waiting.
The invitation to the office of the prime minister was spawned by a front-page story in The Gleaner that detailed the contents of the letters the girls had penned to Golding.
At that time, the students were in the third grade. They are now in fifth grade.
Now Rannay Barnes, 10, thinks the prime minister has broken his promise. "I feel disappointed. I feel like crying because he promised us and he didn't fulfil it," she said in a simple and innocent way only a child could.
"He promised he was going to help us and he said he was going to let us know what he was going to do in short time," said a disillusioned Rannay.
She told The Sunday Gleaner that if she was given another chance to have audience with the PM, she would reiterate that the school still needs his help because when it rains heavily the school yard and some classrooms are flooded and the students are forced to miss school; some for more than a week.
When our news team visited the school on Thursday, the menacing showers had once again touched the property but not as hard as in times past.
A section of the schoolyard was murky and a makeshift bridge made from blocks had to be set up to facilitate crossing at another section adjacent to the staff room.
For Golding to redeem himself, Rannay said he would have to fix the school and tender an apology for the unexplained delay. "I'd like you to fix the school and apologise for breaking your promise," she said.
Ten-year-old Melissa Grant, echoed similar sentiments. "He said he was going to make it better but it is not very, very better," said Grant, the more outspoken of the two.
She said that if she was given another chance to meet with Golding, she would tell him that the sick situation at the "school is not better".
Like Rannay, Grant thinks the prime minister owes her an apology "because he didn't fix the school".
Parting words
But despite the disappointment, she has an affinity for the man who was responsible for her first visit to the historic Jamaica House. "I would want to say I love my prime minister," were her parting words.
Tamera Forrester, who taught both Rannay and Grant in grade three, pointed out that some engineers visited the school and carried out an assessment shortly after the Jamaica House visit.
But that was it.
It was an assignment given by Forrester that resulted in the open letters to Golding. Even though she had not attended, the Jamaica House gathering, Forrester was also disappointed that nothing has materialised since the visit.
"We had expected them to meet our needs now that the ministry is on the back of the teachers so they have to come through for us," she said.
When the flooding subsides, filth and an accompanying stench stains the schoolyard and classrooms. In the aftermath of the flooding, the fire department has to be called in to sanitise the compound and carry out a power wash of the premises.
"Yes, he had said shortly. It has been (almost) two years. He could have at least informed us as to what his plans are (because) the same incident has happened twice since then," the educator said.
Considering the financial troubles plaguing the government, Forrester opined that the promise might have slipped the mind of the battle-weary Golding. "I don't know if he remembers. I guess maybe he has too much on his plate but the children should be at the fore I think."
She also lamented that the flooding affects the preparation for the Grade Four Literacy and Numeracy tests. "There is no way of making up for those lost contact hours," she said.
In addition to getting into the library, the flooding also destroys instructional charts. The Grade one block is the section most affected by the floodwaters. "They get it real bad. We have to take out the benches and wash them off."
When our news team contacted Lois Grant, communications consultant in the Office of the Prime Minister, on Friday she pledged to look into the circumstances surrounding the delay and break-down in communication tomorrow.