— says protests at Kwakwani Secondary could have been avoided

APNU+AFC Member of Parliament (MP) Audwin Rutherford has blamed the Region 10 Regional Democratic Council (RDC) for protests at Kwakwani Secondary due to the absence of electricity and water there.
It was reported that for the past three weeks, the school has been without electricity, which was precipitated by a series of electrical problems ranging from continuous power outages to the sparking of exposed wires around the school’s premises.
This situation has severely affected teaching and learning at the school. Students and teachers also received no definitive answer from regional officials on when the situation will be rectified.
Rutherford blamed the situation on the RDC, claiming that it was slothful in responding to the matter. He said for a while the school has been experiencing electrical problems and the RDC was provided with a list of items to remedy same, but these had not been supplied for commencement of work, up to last Friday.
“A list was made out of things needed and they are progressing on that slowly, I am disappointed with the progress, I am totally disappointed and it is embarrassing with the slothfulness with what the region is doing,” Rutherford said, adding that the officials are acting as if they have no real concern over the issue.
He said the last conversation he had with Regional Executive Officer (REO) Gavin Clarke was that the items had been purchased and were scheduled to be sent to Kwakwani, but has not heard back whether same has been done
Last Thursday, Regional Chairman Renis Morian at the statutory meeting said the situation could have been avoided if the purchasing department at the RDC had viewed the issue as priority and purchased the items.
He said the items should have been purchased immediately after it was brought to the department’s attention and that no longer will the RDC tolerate inefficiency from employees in the department. Disciplinary action will be taken against all employees who have been negligent.
Regional Vice-Chairman Elroy Adolph said as a result of the electricity situation, the school has also been without water, since the pumps cannot be operated to fill the overhead tanks which supply the school with water.
It was reported that parents and students have been protesting since Wednesday and are calling for speedy intervention into the matter. Efforts to contact other regional officials on the matter proved futile.