OSHA: Arouca Govt school ‘a fire risk’

“I am really hoping that the problem could be rectified in a day or two because contractors are already on the site,” he said yesterday in a telephone interview.

Following a visit to the Golden Grove Road school on Friday, Occupational Safety and Health Authority and Agency (OSHA) Inspector Sherwyn Charles advised that it be closed with immediate effect until an inspection of its electrical system was conducted.

In a September 16, 2016, prohibition notice addressed to Lenor Baptiste-Simon, Permanent Secretary, Ministry of Education, Charles said the school’s electrical meter, located on the southern wall of the Standard One and Standard Four blocks, “was completely burnt out as a result of a fire which seemed to have originated from inside the meter.” “This presented a serious risk of an electrical fire throughout the school buildings and possible burns (critical/ fatal) to the school population,” he said in the notice.

Garcia yesterday told Sunday Newsday electrical problems at the school arose last year which resulted in students having to stay away from classes for about six weeks.

“We (Government) looked at it and did the necessary rewiring but that school and others were installed with equipment, ICT, things that they were not originally used for and so because of the greater demand on the electricity some things went...,” Garcia said.

Referring specifically to Arouca Government, Garcia said he did not know what had caused the meter box to become defective since “everything was okay with it.” He said the TT Electricity Commission (TTEC) and the Education Facilities Company Limited, the ministry’s executing agency, were working assiduously to address the problem.

“But you know where electricity is concerned, you have to pass the test with a Certificate of Compliance,” he said, adding that extensive work “at huge cost” was undertaken at the school when the PNM assumed office. “I am just hoping it will not delay classes for too long,” Garcia said.