Mainstay promised teachers dorm
Residents of Mainstay in Region Two (Pomeroon/ Supenaam) have been promised that a dormitory will be built to accommodate teachers from the coast. The promise was made during an outreach on Sunday by Minister within the Ministry of Communities, Dawn HastingsWilliams.
According to a release from the Ministry of Communities, the Minister was responding to concerns raised by several residents during the meeting in the Amerindian community.
She was accompanied by Toshao of Mainstay, Joel Fredericks, and officials from the Guyana Water Inc. (GWI).
Hastings-Williams, the release said, stated that arrangements will be made through the regional administration to ensure that the living conditions of government employees who are posted to the region are adequate.
“If there is a need for teacher’s quarters then we will build one,” HastingsWilliams assured the residents.
Several residents who attended the meeting complained that the quarters currently occupied by teachers are in an atrocious state.
One representative of the Parent-Teachers Association described the current living arrangement for teachers as “unfit for human habitation”, the release said.
“A head teacher, who is a coast-lander has been appointed to the region and so there is an urgent need for living quarters,” one teacher pointed out.
The head-teacher was expected to take up her appointment as of May 8.
Political activist, Mary Williams said that Mainstay has never had a teacher’s quarters but she had given permission to the village council many years ago to occupy a building which was used to house teachers sent to the community.
However, due to a lack of maintenance, the building fell into a state of disrepair and is now in a deplorable condition, the release said.
Another resident, Minerva Carter, made a request for a separate space for the nursery school which is currently being housed in the building with the primary school.
Hastings-Williams also undertook to make representation to Minister of Public Security Khemraj Ramjattan for an update on applications for firearm licences made by residents.
This was after complaints from farmers about wild animals destroying their crops.
Luciana Williams, a teacher, told the meeting that while she does subsistence farming to supplement her income, she has not been able to secure the necessary licence for a firearm.
Among the other issues raised were the electricity coverage, the water supply and quality and the state of the roads.
A request was also made of GWI to flush the lines in order to improve the quality of water and also for an increased supply to outlying villages such as Redlock.
Hastings-Williams promised to have a standpipe installed at Redlock in an effort to ensure a regular supply of water to residents outside the catchment area.
She urged Fredericks to engage the residents through public meetings as this is the required by the Amerindian Act.