Councilors highlight need for more buses for Region Ten students

Aug 08, 2016 News

by Enid Joaquin

Three councilors attached to the Regional Democratic Council (RDC10) have highlighted the need for buses for school children in the more remote areas in the region.
Residents of Rockstone are querying what can be done to assist th

The first bus donated to Region Ten under the ‘Five Bs’ project.

eir children to get to school in Linden, which is some nineteen miles away, according to Councilor Antonio Hackett.
He pointed out that even though a hostel is provided in Linden for children from remote areas, the residents of Rockstone prefer their children to commute every day, given some of the ‘unsavory’ reports regarding some hostels.
“Why don’t the people in Linden send their children to stay at hostels in Georgetown instead of having them travel 65 miles every day” , Hackett queried, while comparing the shorter distance that the children from Rockstone would have to commute, provided transportation is available.
”The residents want to know what can be done to assist in this regard. Parents would like to know that their children are home at nights,” he said during a recent statutory meeting.
Hackett noted that building a secondary school in the community might not be feasible, so the only practical solution would be to provide transportation.
Regional Chairman Rennis Morian in response, asked Hackett whether there was a functioning CDC in the community, to which Hackett replied in the affirmative.
Morian then told Hackett to advise the CDC to write a letter to the office of the President.
Councilor Sandra Adams said that a bus was some time ago handed over to the previous Rockstone CDC, but alleged that it was ‘taken over’ by an individual who has put the bus to their personal use.
“We have the same issue at 47 and 58, the buses that should be used for the community, instead the people hold on to the bus, making money with the bus and doing their own thing with the bus, and these children cannot get the bus to use. Rockstone has a bus,” Adams said.
Councilor Franklyn Carew pointed to the children at Moblissa, who have to walk out six miles to the highway to access transportation, to get to school in Linden, “sometimes in inclement weather, and there is nowhere to shelter.”
Adams, in response, said that she had raised the issue with the Minister of Social Cohesion, and also with an overseas based group, in her quest towards alleviating the transportation woes of the students.
“It’s an issue that I’m very much vigorously pursuing.”
Vice Chairman Elroy Adolf meanwhile, said that at Aroima, the 60-seater school bus would carry a hundred plus children at a time. Because of the overcrowding, Adolf said that some children are reportedly engaging in promiscuous activity at the back of the bus.
“We need another bus because these children are sitting on each other’s laps and we’ve had reports that some of them are having sex. We could not confirm these reports but parents are very concerned.”
Adolph said that parents have already gone to the welfare department with these reports.
He pointed out that the bus was hired by RUSAL to transport workers’ children to and from school. Another bus is however needed, Adolph said, citing the inadequacy of having just one bus, given the number of children in the community.
Recently, students from a few other remote communities in Region Ten, were presented with a bus under Government’s ‘Five Bs’ programme.
The lucky recipients were the students of the Coomacka, Old England, Nottinghamshire and three Friends communities- popularly referred to as the “Mines”.
The 30-seater bus was presented by Minister of Social Cohesion, Amna Alli. Earlier in the year, two boats were presented to students in Region Ten. The ‘Five Bs’ initiative is the brainchild of President David Grainger.

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