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Members of the community came out to lend a hand.

All hands on deck to help Ann Hill reopen

Ann Hill Primary School will reopen on Monday.

So says Minister of the Environment, Trevor Prescod, who was speaking during an interview with the media on the school’s grounds yesterday.

He stated that with the help of a private company, the ministry set out over the weekend to address and rectify the environmental problems that students and staff of the Ann Hill Primary School were experiencing.

“I had to take into consideration that there would be dust and I wouldn’t know exactly what we would find in the dust, and although we saw small pockets of cow itch, it was not that fundamental that we could say it was the main cause of the school closing; but in general the untidy and unhygienic conditions around the school were the major factors that we were concerned about and as a result we needed to address the environmental concerns,” he said.

“I am sure you are aware that this school was closed last week and we visited the other two schools as well, which remained opened. This one was closed and I got a call from the Ministry of Education, both from the Acting Minister and Santia Bradshaw, who asked me to give immediate attention to what is happening here.”

The Minister stated that he was impressed with the hearts of those in the community, who came out to lend a hand. With the help of these persons, the bobcats, tractors, bulldozers and trucks, Prescod was confident that the job would be finished in time for the school to reopen on Monday.

He added that there was also a team of industrial workers, who were going to go into the surrounding schools and clean up any mess that would be caused by the work.

The Minister went on to add that the project was more than a clean-up project, as they intended to “beautify” the area through creating a green space across the landscape.

Prescod added that he believed the situation at Ann Hill was one of negligence, as the school would have been experiencing the level of discomfort for some time. He believes that “we shouldn’t be at this stage in the school term, having to come out here and do this”.

It was against this backdrop that he stated, once he speaks to the Prime Minister of Barbados, that he intends to enter into a MOU with the Ministry of Education, so that they can remain abreast with any environmental issues schools may have, and be in a position to solve them before they get out of hand.

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