…school had been destroyed by arson in 2012

CABINET last Tuesday gave its no-objection to a contract worth more than $170M for the reconstruction of the One Mile Primary School in Region 10 (Upper Demerara/Upper Berbice), Secretary to the Cabinet Dr Roger Luncheon,has announced.Speaking at his weekly post-Cabinet press briefing at the Office of the President, in Georgetown, Luncheon recalled that the school was destroyed by arson on the night of July 18, 2012.
Regional Education Officer of Region 10, Ms. Jennifer Bourne, had advised that pupils of the school in Wismar, Linden, have settled in at temporary locations and were doing well so far.
She said those in Grade One are currently being taught at the One Mile Nursery Extension, while others from Grades Two to Five are at Wismar Hill Primary and the rest from Grade Six are in the Block 22 Multipurpose Hall.
Bourne said classes are being conducted on a full-time basis and commended teachers for their dedication, noting that they have been working an extra half hour every day to make up for the two weeks lost, since the Ministry of Education was looking for accommodation for the more than 830 displaced children.
Three men, armed with cutlasses, had reportedly set fire to the One Mile Primary School, after breaking into the building and stealing computers.
Investigations that followed revealed that the security guard on duty that day was approached by the three men who threatened to kill her if she did not remove from the location or if she attempted to raise an alarm.
The guard then left the compound after which the building was broken into and computers stolen before it was set afire.
The Guyana Fire Service (GFS) tender could not get to the scene of the blaze because of the barricades that had been placed along the roadways by protestors.
The following day, residents of the Linden community handed over two men who they claimed were suspects in the arson to the police at Wismar Police Station.

(By Telesha Ramnarine)