BASSETERRE, St. Kitts – TOP Government officials have promised that whenever the report on the Basseterre High School that is being compiled by the National Institute of Occupational Safety and Health (NIOSH) is given to them, they would make the contents public.
Members of the Team Unity Government have expressed their hope that this organisation would be able to shed some light on the “Basseterre High School situation” to which a proper and workable solution has to be found.
Over the past couple of years, staff and students of the learning institution have complained of various illnesses and charged that they stemmed from contamination of the environment at the school.
The school was closed on a number of occasions and both the Caribbean Industrial Research Institution (CARIRI) and the Caribbean Public Health Agency (CARPHA) had conducted investigations and testing at the facility.
As a result, it was recommended that several measures be taken before the compound could have been opened for the 2014-2015 school year. However, students and teachers said their conditions persisted while a number of others developed conditions of which they were previously unaware.
Education Minister the Hon. Shawn Richards indicated in March 2015 that the Pan American Health Organisation (PAHO) had recommended that NIOSH carry out an investigation on the premises.
According to the Minister of State with responsibility for Health, the Hon. Wendy Phipps, contrary to media reports, the report has not yet been handed over to the Government.
“As it relates to the matter of investigating or getting to the bottom or attempting rather, what would be the final result in terms of the issues at Basseterre High School, it may have been intimated to you earlier that we did have a team of experts from the National Institute of Occupational Safety and Health funded by PAHO who were here several weeks ago trying to do some investigative work in terms of sources of contamination.
“Contrary to what may have been uttered in the press over the last five or six days, neither Minister Richards nor I are in receipt of the NIOSH report. When that is made available we would have no problems divulging it to the public, because what is going on at BHS is very much a public health issue as it is an educational issue. And once it affects persons it affects us and it affects the whole community,” she explained at the Prime Minister’s press conference held late last week.
Minister of Education the Hon. Shawn Richards told SKNVibes that NIOSH has not given any date by which the report would be handed over to them. He however promised that it would be available for public consumption when handed over.
Meantime, the Basseterre High School staff and students continue to share the facility at Washington Archibald High School with staff and students there in a shift system.
Education officials have indicated that options are currently being weighed for a temporary solution and an eventual permanent solution to be found.
