Ministry wants to know why St Bartholomew Primary students turned away

By Shamar Blunt

The Ministry of Education blamed an unnamed individual for turning away students from the St Bartholomew Primary School on Tuesday as classes were again disrupted amid reports of an unpleasant odour from the airport incinerator. But the Grantley Adams International Airport (GAIA) denied any burning occurred and the ministry, which said school would resume on Wednesday, is seeking answers.

Earlier in the day, Julian Pierre, the Barbados Union of Teachers (BUT) spokesman on safety and health told Barbados TODAY that teachers and students had begun to leave the school just before midday although classes were not officially cancelled.

“After 8, there would have been issues with the smoke from the incinerator, so as persons came in, they came into it,” he said. “Persons started to feel uncomfortable, some of the teachers said they were going to seek medical attention, students complained as well and obviously, if a student [is feeling ill] you would call the parents and have them picked up.”

But in a statement on Tuesday evening, the Ministry of Education said that on what was supposed to be the first day of the resumption of classes since last Thursday’s premature closure, it was informed that only seven students were in attendance and that “an individual at the school was reportedly turning away parents with their children, citing air effects from incineration activity at the Grantley Adams International Airport”.

“However, a check with GAIA revealed that there was no incineration activity at the plant (Tuesday),” it added.

BUT President Rudy Lovell and ministry officials visited the school to determine the source of the complaint. But the ministry said it was “unclear what actually precipitated this morning’s action”.

“The school was determined to be unsuitably equipped to conduct a full day of classes, hence the early closure of the school. The ministry awaits an official report on today’s incident. In the meantime, the St Bartholomew Primary School is scheduled to resume normal classes tomorrow, Wednesday, January 24, 2024,” it added.

In an interview with Barbados TODAY, GAIA spokeswoman Sharleen Browne flatly denied that the incinerator had been used at any time on Tuesday.

“[Tuesday], GAIA Inc. did not operate the incinerator,” she said.

Lovell had said that despite talks held over the weekend with the airport management, Deputy Chief Education Officer Joy Adamson, and officials from the Ministry of Health and the Sanitation Service Authority, no long-term solution had been found.

“Coming out of the meeting, we were hopeful that we would have had some form of correspondence coming from the ministry today to indicate what would happen to the school in the event there is another episode, but we did not get any. We are still waiting to see if the ministry will reach out, and indicate what contingencies they have in place for St Bartholomew,” he said.

“The CEO of the airport has indicated that the airport is doing everything possible to mitigate the situation. We are satisfied that what he is saying may be correct, but we are still mindful that our members are still being impacted. Apparently, the waste that goes to the incinerator not only comes from the airport, it comes from outside of the airport, and that may be contributing to the problem.

“We want to see the incinerator stop [being used] during school times. Sometimes they would burn in the morning times, but it would still [be smouldering] into the school. I am not an environmentalist but we want to have our workers in a safe and healthy working environment, free of anything that would affect their health and safety.”

Browne acknowledged that a long-term solution was still being investigated.

“We are actively pursuing immediate measures to mitigate the impact on the school. Our immediate response plan also involves closely collaborating with the MET Office as we recognise the significant role of wind direction in the dispersion of the smoke. We will utilise their expert data and forecasts to guide our incineration schedule, aiming to minimise the occurrence of smoke affecting the school,” she said.

“Additionally, we are requesting the cooperation of all entities that use the incinerator. Our goal is to reduce the quantity of material requiring incineration, thereby decreasing the duration and frequency of burning activities. This measure, while interim, is aimed at providing immediate relief to the affected students and staff at St Bartholomew’s Primary.”

shamarblunt@barbadostoday.bb