CLASSES at the Mackenzie High School were cancelled yesterday, as was also done on Monday, over the non-function of three toilets, reportedly at the instigation of suspended APNU member, Vanessa Kissoon.Kissoon, who is the People’s National Congress Reform (PNCR) representative in Region 10 (Upper Demerara-Upper Berbice), is also a teacher at the school.

Some students, teachers and parents, at around 10:00hrs on Monday, protested the situation, which was resolved, through the intervention of the Region, about an hour after they took action.

According to reports, the school has 16 toilets, with six working well, three backing-up, and five with minor deficiencies.
The remaining three were said to have developed major problems late last week, but the matter was apparently not reported to the Region. And from all accounts, the headteacher of the school was unaware of the problem.

UNCALLED FOR
People’s Progressive Party/Civic (PPP/C) Member of Parliament (MP) and Region 10 Representative, Neil Kumar said there was no need for Kissoon to make a “mountain out of a molehill”, since simple communication with Regional officials would have solved the problem.

The Regional Education Officer’s office, he said, is just a stone’s throw away from the school, which has the distinction of being the premier such institution in the Region.
Kumar accused Kissoon of being bent on trying to cause confusion, and trying to use the students and some teachers as a political football in her wicked agenda.
According to reports from another source, a number of teachers attached to the school vented their feelings about the absence of “running water” at the school, and ventured to the Regional Education Department on Republic Avenue to show their disgust.
That source said the condition had been in existence for some time now, and that after the acting headteacher tried but failed to contact education officials in Linden, the teachers took matters into their hands by turning up at the Ministry’s Department on Monday afternoon.
The teachers said they thought that the situation had become untenable; hence their action to attract the attention of the authorities.

EARLIER RUN-IN

Kissoon also had a run-in last year with her Party, the PNCR, following her refusal to hand over the keys to its Region 10 offices to General Secretary, Oscar Clarke.
Subsequent to the PNCR’s 18th Biennial Congress in July, Kissoon was instructed to apologise for misconduct; but she again refused.
In September last year, a letter was dispatched to Kissoon by Opposition Leader David Granger regarding her membership of the party, but to date, she has failed to respond.

This newspaper sought to solicit a comment from Kissoon on the accusations levelled against her by Kumar but to no avail. Several calls to the Regional Education Officer also went unanswered. (Tajeram Mohabir and Joe Chapman)