Reports indicate that previously identified issues regarding the Basseterre High School facilities have largely been addressed as stated in the NIOSH report. That is also my understanding from reading the NIOSH report. It has however identified a few areas that it recommends to be addressed before the facility is reoccupied. When these are done, the BHS facilities would undoubtedly be among the most contaminant-free school facilities on the island. Rodent and other droppings, termites, water stains, paint peeling etc can no doubt be found in other school facilities which I hope government will also seek to address. (Incidentally, government needs to look at any flamboyant/Poinciana tree in the BHS environs which breeds termites.)
Even as the government considers building a new and modern state of the art school facility in another location in Basseterre, that will surely take time and good planning, not to mention a large amount of resources. In the meantime, it would seem difficult to explain why the BHS facility should remain closed and unused after the identified issues are addressed following the already large scale clean-up efforts. It is unfortunate, to my mind that the NIOSH report was not attended to as a matter of urgency when first received. It may have provided sufficient time to properly address the remaining issues so as to initiate a reopening of the BHS by the new school year.
To have such a large good facility remain closed and unused is a major waste of resources, in my view, not to mention unnecessarily short changing the 1,000 plus students being affected by the BHS- WAHS shift arrangement for an indeterminate period of time. As also hinted at in the report, it can precipitate unwanted deterioration in some areas of the facility, as noted in the dry drains. I would not want to think that the government will spend valuable scarce resources constructing a temporary facility when there is a perfectly good facility waiting to be used.
I believe that the government/Education department should look into screening carefully those students and teachers who are perceived to be affected by the environment at the BHS and have them relocated/reassigned to other educational facilities on the island. Not everyone is affected or affected to the same degree by any of these concerns. As have been reported elsewhere, sometimes there are underlying health conditions that the individual has that make them more susceptible to various effects. As also indicated in an earlier report, not all of the ailments complained of could be linked to the school environment. In any event, now that there has been the thorough cleansing of the school, this should significantly reduce any further exposure.
It should be noted that just up the road from the Basseterre High School at the corner of Victoria Road and Taylor’s Range, a brand new government pre-school is being built. Clearly the government has determined that whatever contaminants were said to exist at BHS at the time were not of a health hazard to the pre-schoolers.
Let us hope that until such time as it builds the modern state of the art school it envisages, the government can make good and full use of the Basseterre High School for the High Schoolers after the remaining issues identified are addressed and recommendations implemented/