Classes at Happy Grove High School in East Portland have been disrupted as transport operators plying the route from Morant Bay to Port Antonio have withdrawn their service for a second day.
Monique Grant Facey, Principal of the school, told RJR News that she decided to close the institution as none of the more than 1,300 students reported for classes on Tuesday morning.
The principal said the problem is that major roadblocks have been set up, leading from Port Antonio to St. Thomas, which have prevented teachers and students from travelling to school. Only the teachers who reside on the compound were present on Tuesday.
Trees were used by protesters to block the main road leading to the school.
The roadblocks also resulted in the closure of the Seaside Primary and Manchioneal All Age schools in Portland.
Students and teachers were unable to get through the blockades.
The police are trying to clear roadblocks from Manchioneal to Hector's River.
The Golden Grove Primary School in eastern St. Thomas has also been affected. The school is in session, however, students who travel from Portland were absent.
St. Thomas
Meanwhile, scores of commuters in Morant Bay and other sections of eastern St. Thomas were left stranded Tuesday morning.
Taxi operators, who ply the route between Yallahs to Port Antonio, say the road has been in a state of disrepair for several years, hence the need for action.
Meanwhile, Dr. Fenton Ferguson, Member of Parliament for St. Thomas Eastern, says there is a lack of equity in the patching of roads in the parish. This, he says, is evident particularly in the western and eastern parts of the parish.
Dr. Ferguson says he had written to Everald Warmington, State Minister for Works and Everton Hunter, CEO of National Works Agency (NWA) and expected that remedial work would have been done before the start of the school year.
Dr. Fenton Ferguson, spoke with RJR News Tuesday morning.
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