By Sheria Brathwaite
The Black Rock, St Michael resident at the centre of the environmental issue affecting St Stephen’s Nursery School says she was shocked that a problem with odour from her chicken pens was not brought to her attention by the school’s administration before it became a national issue.
On Monday, the 60-year-old woman who did not want to be identified, told Barbados TODAY that she had no idea her chicken coop was affecting the school, which is an arm’s length away from her family home. She said she is somewhat puzzled about the turn of events that threw the matter onto the national stage.
Particularly troubling for her, was that her family has had a long-standing relationship with the school and they always did anything they could for the wellbeing of the students and staff.
She questioned why school officials did not contact her about the problem first before it was escalated.
“The scent was unknown to us and nobody ever came to me and tell me about the chicken pens. Nobody came here and had a talk with me. I didn’t even know it was in the paper till somebody phone and tell me,” she said. “It made me feel very bad and shocked. I have a lot going on right now. I have to bury my aunt Wednesday and my uncle died four months ago and now this here. It is torture, it is hell, but my God, My Redeemer lives.”
The woman said that management at the school had contacted her prior about an overhanging mango tree that was causing a mess on the school’s compound and she believes that the same way she was contacted about the fruit free, the odour from her pens could have been brought to her attention.
“In January when the headmistress wanted the mango tree cut down she came and holler for my name. So if she knew she could smell chickens, before it blew up like this, she could have come here the same way she came here before and call me, but she said nothing. She had a right to come to me and tell me instead of making it a whole issue.
“If she could come to me in January that means we were corresponding. She has called me on my phone too, on my landline, so she has my number. So why now, she couldn’t contact me?
“It didn’t have to escalate to this. They treated me like I am a damn criminal. If she had tell me she was smelling something I would come and rectify the odour.
“. . .Then when I heard they had the children at the church, that they had their lunch in the yard and had to walk through the graveyard to get to the washroom, I thought that was more unsanitary than what they say I was doing to them.”
The environmental problem affecting the school was first raised on Monday March 13 when the school closed early and two days later, parents were given the option to collect their children from the facility though it remained open. The school was closed again on Friday March 17 and the Ministry of Education gave the assurance that the issue would have been rectified but the following Monday the school was closed again.
The next day students were relocated at the neighbouring St Stephen’s Anglican Church but that was later removed as an option after teachers and parents complained that the environment was not conducive to learning.
The ministry then closed the school for the remaining week and made provisions for online classes on Wednesday and Thursday.
Meanwhile, President of the Barbados Union of Teachers (BUT) Rudy Lovell said that things went relatively smoothly as the students returned to the classroom on Monday.
“From all accounts things went well today. The staff is comfortable and the students are comfortable and we are thankful that it appears as if the issue has been resolved at least for the time being,” he said.
Meanwhile, the neighbour said that a health inspector told her she had to get rid of the birds and she did so at a loss to her.
Though she preferred not to go into detail about the situation she said she had been rearing broilers and layers for about a year.
“I had to get rid of them before their time so I incurred losses,” she said about the last set of birds.
The woman’s 79-year-old mother, who also did not want to be identified, said that she was responsible for erecting the gate at the back entrance of the school as the school abuts and abounds her property. She added that when staff at the school needed supplies they would shout for her.
“When the water was off and they didn’t have water to wash up the wares I put my hose through the fence so the school meals workers could wash up. If they want anything they come here. If they want a shovel, they come here, if they want a broom they come here.
This was going on for years,” she said.
Asked if any contact was made to the neighbour before the situation escalated, Lovell said: “That is not an issue that the union can speak on. All we can say is that concerns were brought to our attention by our members who teach at the school and we then brought those concerns to the Ministry of Education who then contacted the Ministry of Health.”
sheriabrathwaite@barbadostoday.bb
