Garcia: Lost school time will be made up

The minister toured the school yesterday and said a fence which had been torn down by the storm would be immediately rebuilt, because the principal had told him the school was in a high-risk area.

Garcia said he intended to treat the matter as an emergency and would contact the Education Facilities Company to deal with it as soon as he returned to his office.

He also praised the Electricity Commission (T&TEC) for doing a tremendous job in replacing a pole which had fallen during the storm and had left the school without electricity as well as internet connectivity.

He said the T&TEC crew had worked through the night to replace the pole and was still there at the time of his visit yesterday morning.

He said as soon as the T&TEC crew was finished, a crew from FLOW would begin work to restore internet service, and he had been assured the electricity supply would be restored by the end of the day.

He said a number of other schools were also affected by the storm: Todds Road RC; Brazil RC; Mundo Nuevo RC; and the San Rafael RC primary schools.

In a statement, the ministry said other schools affected were Mayo RC Primary and Rousillac Hindu Primary School, where some of the galvanised sheets on the roof were blown off.

The statement added that the Kanhai Presbyterian Primary School and St Helena’s SDMS Hindu School were cut off by flooded access roads, although the school buildings themselves were not affected. However, the minister hoped that all the flood-affected schools would be re-opened by today.

The ministry also said the Valencia South Government Primary School and Manzanilla Government Secondary School were being used as shelters for displaced families and would remain closed today.