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Moleson Creek All Age School left to rot for one year
….to be dismantled and moved, but when
After expending millions of dollars in 2011 on the reconstruction and complete rehabilitation of the Moleson Creek all age school on the upper reaches of the Corentyne and then closing it without the notification and against the wishes of the residents. The news has now come that the school is to be dismantled and moved out of the area.
This information was recently revealed to the media by the Region Six Education Officer, Shafiran Bhajan, at a press briefing held by the Region Six Administration at the regions board room in New Amsterdam. However, the authorities do not have a time line for the removal of the building.
When asked by the media when that will be done, the Regional Education Officer said that she was not sure, but that it will not be this year.
This information has come as a shock to residents of the area, who when contacted said that they were never informed of the latest development. They said that it is just another excuse.
The sign reveals how much money was spent
Before it was unceremoniously ordered closed the residents said the last count at the school was about 60 students.
The school which was renovated to the tune of millions of dollars, by Memorex Construction Company of New Amsterdam has been left to rot. The structure has been taken over by wasps, bats, rates and other insects. The compound which houses a one flat building for the school and also houses a building for the head teacher has become a virtual jungle and is the host for snakes and other jungle creatures.
The residents are questioning the wisdom of the government expending such hefty sums of money on the structure and then leave it to decay.
Residents in an earlier interview had wondering the reason for placing the school away from the rest of the community. The school is the last building in the area about one mile away from the closest resident. The distance from the main Corentyne highway to the Moleson Creek all age school is a mere two miles, but to travel from the main road to the school during the rainy weather usually takes two hours.
Moleson Creek is situated some 66 miles from New Amsterdam on the border of the Corentyne River where the Guyana/Suriname Ferry crossing is situated.
They said that because of the neglect of the community and the sad state of the road many residents had moved from the village, but are willing to return it things improve. “If the government is serious about agriculture and help to make this road among other things a lot of persons will return.”
They said that the excuse the government gave for closing the school was a lame one; however they had wished it would have been reopened. They said that as it stands now it is costing them a fortune to send their children to school especially those with Kindergarten children. They are doling out as much as $4,000 on a daily basis to send their children to the Crabwood Creek School some six miles away.
Vegetation overtakes the school compound
They had called for an investigation and for a survey to be done in the area. “What the government is doing is forcing people to become illiterate,” one resident said.
When the school was repaired we were told that we will have Solar Panel installed on the school; all the electrical fittings were put in place. “We were told so much and when the renovation was done that was it.”
Residents still had hope that the government would have met with them and consider reopening the school which was stocked with all the amenities, but now with the announcement that it will be dismantled, the people say that this is an atrocity.
They had asked that the Minster of Education pay a visit to the area, but that did not materialize since she even refused to contact them.
The perturbed residents stated that Moleson Creek students (Primary and Nursery) always attended the one school. They had accused the Regional Education Officer Ms Bhajan, of lying.
“She told us that she doesn’t have teachers for the school, and then in Georgetown she said teachers are not the problem, but the lack of students.”
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