Schools still battling stench from Greenwich Town sewage plant

 

Schools in Greenwich Town, St. Andrew are calling for the authorities to provide relief as the stench from a nearby National Water Commission sewage treatment plant continues to wreak havoc on students and teachers. 

 

Andrea Richards, acting principal at Greenwich Primary School, described the stench as "dangerously bad", while the administration at Caribbean Palms Early Childhood Institution said the matter was real cause for concern. 

 

In an interview, Ms. Richards said she is worried that the stench could pose health problems for staff and students. She explained that the odour is also disrupting teaching and learning. 

 

"Teachers have to pause when they are teaching and the scent comes up. The stench comes up so they have to pause what they are doing. Sometimes they have to put their rags with some alcohol or something over their nostrils. The students, sometimes it's as if they are going to reach vomit because that's how bad it is at times. We have been grappling with this situation for a number of years and media houses, everybody is aware, I think...and nobody has helped us. It's as if our cries are falling on deaf ears. The ministry is aware of it also and we get no help," the acting principal lamented.

 

Ms. Richards noted that student enrolment is low because of the stench, adding that some teachers have also resigned.

 

"There have been teachers here who they came here healthy and then they had to leave because over the years it has affected them. So we are down in numbers...in terms of enrolment of students - not to say that this is the main factor, but this is one of the contributing factors which parents are saying and they are not sending their children to the school because of the stench."