Amidst the controversy, the school’s board chairman Dr Donley Carrington appealed for parents, teachers, staff, and education officials to work together harmoniously to provide the best possible learning experience for students.

After a walkthrough at the Cane Garden, St Thomas school with officials including Chief Education Officer Dr Ramona Archer-Bradshaw and others, Democratic Labour Party spokeswoman on education Felicia Dujon claimed there were two reports on the latest tests, but only one was widely circulated. She said the circulated document had “a missing page” and demanded the full report be made public.

Many parents had also contacted the media with the same complaint about a missing page.

In response, Dr Archer-Bradshaw showed reporters the 10-page report she had from Ian Weekes of Environmental Comfort and Safety Solutions Limited, the company that conducted the tests. She denied any pages were missing from the report.

Dr Carrington told Barbados TODAY there were indeed two report documents from Weekes. But, he stressed the “missing page” allegation was misleading, clarifying it was a paragraph that was omitted, not an entire page.

“Neither the board nor the ministry would have tampered with or removed any information from the report,” Carrington said. He explained there was a longer and shorter version of the same report, both received as Portable Document Format files (PDFs) by the board which forwarded them as received.

The paragraph in question theorised about possible symptoms from high volatile organic compound (VOC) exposure for chemically sensitive individuals. Carrington said he believes Weekes may have removed it from the second version to avoid confusion since it did not relate to the findings.

VOCs are organic chemicals that can vaporise into the air and are found in many products including pesticides, paint, varnish, wax, and cleaning products. VOCs can also be found in refrigerants and fuel fumes.

Both reports’ key findings were the same – that based on all tests of each building, drainage system, and a nearby cave, “there was no venting of any sewer gases” at the school.

Barbados TODAY obtained a copy of the report. The disputed section reads: “These levels are applicable to normal individuals; they are not applicable to chemically sensitive individuals. Specific production operations may exceed these levels due to the presence of one or more compounds characteristic of a specific operation. In those cases, it is recommended that OSHA (Occupational Safety and Health Administration) or NIOSH (National Institute for Occupational Safety and Health) limits be used for those individual compounds and that they not be included in the total volatile organic value. Exposure effects – eye and respiratory irritation, headaches, drowsiness, nausea, general malaise, etc.”

However, Carrington said that what was important was that both reports had the same findings, which stated that based on all the tests done on each block and drainage system at Lester Vaughan, including a nearby cave system, “there was no venting of any of the sewer gases”.

The board chair explained that Weekes’ services were only acquired to verify that a previous environmental study was accurate.

Carrington said Weekes was hired to verify the results of a prior environmental study, after a plumbing company’s two tests – the first finding defects in the sewerage system that were then repaired, with a second successful smoke test showing the systems were properly sealed.

He noted this was the third environmental report in a short period, suggesting another may be needed to determine why students and staff have fallen ill since the latest two reports confirmed no sewer gas leaks on the compound.

The school has been closed for four weeks, with online classes. Carrington hopes fourth and fifth formers can return next week for extra lessons over the Easter break to prepare for exams.

During the walkthrough, principal Suzette Holder showed the sealed sewerage systems to officials. Dr Carl Ward, representing the Chief Medical Officer, said he was pleased with what he observed.

Meantime, the meeting that was scheduled to be held virtually on Thursday evening with parents was called off due to challenges associated with the online platform.

The meeting was to go through the findings of the environmental test and talk about the possibility of reopening the school next week.

The Zoom call only allowed 100 participants to log in and PTA president Sheena Headley said that it was only fair that all interested parents had the opportunity to participate in the session and air their concerns.

Weekes, who conducted the latest environmental test, also experienced some technical difficulties.

“Therefore, at the request of the PTA president, the meeting will be deferred to a day next week when all parents can be accommodated,” the Ministry of Education said in a press release. “At that time, Mr Weekes will be back on island and will be able to explain the report and address any concerns.”

It added that parents would be informed of the date and time for the rescheduled in-person meeting.

sheriabrathwaite@barbadostoday.bb

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Opposition Leader Aubrey Norton on Thursday accused the People’s Progressive Party Civic (PPPC) administration of failing to pay healthcare workers more but was preparing to hire Bangladeshis and other foreign healthcare workers at higher salaries, but Vice President Bharrat Jagdeo said they would be paid the same as Guyanese. “You cannot bring Bangladeshis, bring whoever ...

Santo Domingo.– The Office for the Reorganization of Transportation (Opret) has released the schedule for the Santo Domingo Metro during the Easter holiday period.

According to a press release from the institution, the Metro will operate on Holy Thursday from 6:00 AM until 10:30 PM. on Good Friday, the service will run from 6:00 AM to 10:00 PM. Similarly, on Holy Saturday and Easter Sunday, the Metro will operate from 6:00 AM to 10:00 PM. Normal service will resume on Monday, April 1.

Additionally, Opret noted that Line 1 of the Santo Domingo Cable Car has been temporarily suspended since March 23 for scheduled maintenance, with service set to resume on Monday, April 1.

To assist Cable Car users during this period, the Metropolitan Bus Services Office (OMSA) will provide buses at no extra cost. These buses will run from 6:00 AM to 10:30 PM on Holy Thursday and from 8:00 AM to 9:00 PM on Good Friday, Holy Saturday, and Easter Sunday.

Opret also reminded cyclists that they have the opportunity to travel with their bicycles in the integrated transport system on Saturdays, Sundays, and holidays, facilitating mobility for those who prefer cycling as their mode of transportation.

Independent Senator Christopher Maynard, a noted ear, nose and throat surgeon, told fellow lawmakers that the country was responsible for the state of healthcare and all must work to fix it. This repair job cannot be remedied by the government alone, the board of the Queen Elizabeth Hospital or the staff, he said.

A visit to the QEH Accident and Emergency Department on Saturday led him to recall the Bible verse, “Jesus wept”, he said in the debate on the Appropriation Bill for the new fiscal year that begins on Monday.

“There are some obligations that the government needs to meet. My visit to the A&E was after 8 p.m. but there was no place in the hospital to buy food at 8 p.m. The cafeteria closes at 3. We cannot have a 24-hour hospital and you can’t get food at night,” he said.

Of QEH staff, the surgeon-lawmaker said: “We have to demand that those who are to work, work and produce. Those who we pay large sums of money have to come to work. And we have to make some hard, harsh decisions on how to sanction those who don’t come to work and who don’t produce.”

Noting that Barbadians pay a three per cent health levy which has raised about $70 million annually for the hospital’s operations, he added: “It’s a nice insurance policy to the QEH and I think we can do far better than we are doing but somebody has to truly take responsible at an executive level and make sure it’s done.”

Senator Maynard said while the experience of COVID-19 meant that there were changes with working from home, this is not an option for healthcare workers who must show up in person.

“There are people who believe you can be a full-time healthcare worker from home, but the reality is that you can’t [be]. People need in-person interaction,” he said, adding that compassion has disappeared since the COVID-19 pandemic.

He said when the government, during the pandemic, made the correct decision to curtail certain services at the QEH and continued to pay the staff in full, it created a problem.

“It meant that those who continued to work had more time to themselves. They were not at the beach because you couldn’t go to the beach, but you were busy seeing patients. The pandemic is declared over, and you now have to ask those persons who had reassigned their time to realise that they do have another job and to come back to work and produce.”

He suggested that methods must be found to create the enthusiasm that is needed to work in a system that has gotten worse and is more difficult to work in.

The senator also pleaded for a system which guarantees food availability at the hospital over 24 hours: “It cannot be that you can expect the place with the largest number of government workers under one roof not to have access to food. When it happens that there is a disaster and you have to stay in the hospital, the problem still exists. So, you are expected to provide care while you starve.”

Whoever gets such a contract, he added, must be set a minimum level for the provision of meals in a facility that caters to people all day.

He called on the Minister of Health Senator Jerome Walcott, to fix the meals issue.

Senator Maynard also addressed the situation at the hospital outpatient clinics which he said has always been overcrowded. He recalled that when he returned from Jamaica 40 years ago, he had become accustomed to a certain level of functioning in Jamaica that was the same here but was surprised back then to observe two doctors seeing patients in one room with no privacy for the consultations which could clearly be overheard.

“Forty years on and the same thing is happening. It means that successive governments, over and over again, have done nothing to fix it,” he declared.

Senator Maynard said he hoped with the expansion of the QEH services across the road at the Elmore compound as outlined by the health minister, this situation would be changed.

But he said the short-term solution may be to use porta cabins from which to conduct some services and alleviate the overcrowding.

The healthcare professional said the system plagued by the exodus of doctors and nurses and low morale must be transformed into an environment where professionals see the benefits of staying, and he encouraged the health ministry to do everything to improve the lot of healthcare workers.

(SP)

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TAMCC held a successful 2nd Annual Carriacou Health Fair on Thursday, 21 March at the Hillsborough Tennis Court

View the full post TAMCC hosts second annual health fair in Carriacou on NOW Grenada.

Teacher Lynn Fleary, resident in the UK, but with Carriacou family roots, is happy to have helped in the healing process for children at the Princess Royal Hospital

View the full post Princess Royal Hospital paediatric ward enhanced on NOW Grenada.

By Ryan Gilkes

Nearly a year after the Barbados School Nutrition Policy was introduced, the head of the committee overseeing its rollout said vendors operating on the fringe of school campuses as well as contraband smuggling of banned drinks are undermining the policy’s goal of better student well-being.

Hedda Phillips-Boyce, chair of the Barbados School Nutrition Policy Implementation Committee, told the second National Nutrition Centre Nutrition Conference on Wednesday that itinerant vendors and “brown bag” sneaking of prohibited beverages among teachers were among several challenges to the policy in need of urgent attention.

Teachers who felt themselves above the nutrition policy are “digging [their] grave with [teeth]”, she declared, warning that chronic illnesses among staff only added to their workload.

“Our problem is where the students are giving their support to vendors out of school,” Phillips-Boyce said. “We’re going to undermine this initiative if you do not address the vendors. The change can be made but we need to have those vendors addressed.”

While progress has been made in reducing soda availability in schools, a new issue has arisen with the prevalence of drinks containing artificial sweeteners. 

“We now have to look at which is the worst devil,” she said, acknowledging the need to address this emerging concern through education. “We’re seeing this sneaking in and I really believe that with the canteen concession . . . it is because of education. They’re not aware that this is what is happening. So, education is so important.”

Phillips-Boyce also discussed non-compliance among parents and teachers, emphasising the importance of rigorous monitoring and enforcement. She shared anecdotes of students selling non-compliant foods with some parents supporting this behaviour, as well as instances of teachers consuming prohibited beverages on campus.

She said: “The nutritionist I usually work with, we went to a particular school and the canteen concessionaire told us that he keeps a particular beverage in the canteen for the teachers. So, he will give the teachers this particular drink in the brown bag. We can’t have that. We need to have the teachers model their behaviour. All adults should be modelling their behaviour. We’ve even had a parent or two – not many; a lot of them understand where we’re going with this policy –… state that they felt very offended that the government wants to tell them how to feed their child. So that’s the type of person that we have to contend with.

“[We have] heard of a child who has been selling contraband . . .  foods that are non-compliant. These children are few and far between but these are stories that you need to hear. They have been selling items that the canteen concessionaire cannot sell or should not sell…. In one case, they were supported by the parents.”

The committee chair underscored the need for a unified approach involving educators modelling appropriate behaviour and addressing vendors operating outside schools to provide healthier options.

She said while some teachers are on board the policy, “unfortunately, we have some who think the policy is for the students and not for them”. 

“But education is important because if the teachers are ill, they have to do more substitution. There is more work on them because their colleagues are ill . . . We’re digging our grave with our teeth. That is a fact,” Phillips-Boyce warned.

She also stressed the significance of early intervention, commending nursery schools’ proactive efforts and stressing ongoing education and outreach, including collaborating with organisations like the Heart & Stroke Foundation of Barbados and leveraging social media platforms.

“The best practices with regards to dietary practices need to be shared with the population. . . . you have to do what you have to do to get that message out there on social media. Our younger children use social media to get their messaging and that is something to consider,” she said. “We are making inroads. I am seeing a change… but you have to start somewhere.” (RG)

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Santo Domingo.- During this Holy Week, experts from the Medical Center for Diabetes, Obesity, and Specialties (CEMDOE) have outlined essential guidelines for maintaining healthy skin and preventing foodborne illnesses during this festive period.

Dermatologist Lissette Caraballo underscored the significance of skin care, emphasizing its role as the body’s primary defense against external threats and a reflection of overall health. Stressing its multifaceted functions—from providing a protective barrier to regulating temperature and water balance—Caraballo emphasized the importance of gentle skincare practices. Recommendations included using mild cleansers devoid of harsh detergents, opting for warm rather than hot water during bathing, and exercising caution with exfoliation, limiting it to once every one to two weeks. Daily moisturization and sun protection, with sunscreen of at least SPF 30 and reapplication every two hours, were also highlighted as crucial for safeguarding against UV damage and reducing the risk of skin cancer.

In tandem with skincare, gastroenterologist Coralina Santana addressed dietary considerations for the holiday season. Santana cautioned against overindulgence in spicy and fatty foods, advocating for moderation in portion sizes and meal composition. Highlighting the risks associated with excessive alcohol consumption and improper food storage, Santana urged vigilance against food poisoning, emphasizing the importance of promptly addressing symptoms of gastrointestinal distress, such as cramps, abdominal pain, and nausea.

Santana stressed the necessity of thorough food preparation to mitigate the risk of bacterial contamination, advising against the consumption of raw or mishandled foods like salads and fruits. She urged individuals to prioritize food safety measures during festivities to prevent diet-related ailments.

In summary, as Holy Week festivities commence, CEMDOE specialists advise prioritizing skincare practices and mindful eating habits to ensure both physical well-being and enjoyment of the holiday season.

“If your kite accidentally gets caught in or near power lines, release the string at once and call Grenlec at 237 to report the incident”

View the full post Grenlec urges everyone to enjoy kite flying tradition safely on NOW Grenada.

Even as the Ministry of Health continued its chicken pox vaccination drive at the Lusignan Prison, East Coast Demerara, the Guyana Prison Service (GPS) on Wednesday said there was no new case of the viral disease at that penal facility. “So far, there have been no new cases of chickenpox detected at the prison facility,” ...