Businessman highly upset at ‘broken promises’

Construction work presently being carried out on the West St. George Secondary school is causing Michael John to see red.{{more}}

The businessman is highly upset, and claims that a promise made to him by high profile members of the Ministry of Education was broken in relation to construction at the school.

John claims that the annex to the school, which is being constructed about 20 feet from his two storey property, should not be going up an extra storey, if the officials had been true to their word.

He said that in July 2007, he spoke with Minister of Education and the Permanent Secretary in that Ministry after the foundation to the new wing was dug.

John thought that this would bring the school too close to a dwelling place, and noise and privacy would have been issues.

“When I saw that, I had a meeting with Honorable Girlyn Miguel and Mrs. (Laura) Browne, and I told them about my concerns and they agreed with me.”

“However, they said that they would not go up a next storey, because by doing this they will be bringing the noise to the exact level of the house.”

But three weeks ago, he got a surprise when he heard hammering and machinery at the site.

John said he was surprised to see workmen at the school – putting a new level on the school.

On seeing the construction, John said that he immediately called the Minister, who asked him to come see her but he admitted that he did not do so.

“(Does) it make sense? They have blocks running already. What can they tell me?”

John is asking about the new building proposed for the West St. George Secondary School, which he said had been scheduled to be constructed on a new site a few metres away more than three years ago.

“They say they had funding for that school. What’s going on with that?” John asked.

John, who has lived in the area for 11 years, has owned the property in question for six years.

He believes the construction of the school so close to his property takes away not only privacy from the tenants, but also brings down its value.

John claims that while there is need for expansion to accommodate the greater number of students entering secondary schools, things could have been done differently.

John claims that he is fully in favour of the Education Revolution and shared that the Kingstown Cooperative Credit Union, of which he is president, metes out scholarships and bursaries to students yearly.

“My main contention is that they never contacted me in the first case, and they promised me faithfully that they would not go up a next storey, and they go against their word – and they still didn’t consult me. I see it as total disrespect.”

“I want the public to know that I am not happy with it at all. They doing as they please. They have no regards.”

When Searchlight contacted the Ministry of Education, Permanent Secretary Laura Browne confirmed that there had been talks between herself, Miguel and John last year, but claimed that she did not recall any promises being made.

According to Browne, all school construction is handled by the Chief Engineer in the Ministry of Transport and Works.

Browne, however, conceded that John should have been informed that further construction was to be done at the site.