Residents of White Water Village, North West District are peeved that education officials at Mabaruma are dragging their feet in having the primary school at the border village gazetted.

Currently, the school which is located near the Venezuela border has a population of 171 pupils and since it was established 11 years ago, it has been operating as an annex of the Wauna Primary School located a few miles away.

Villagecaptain Cleveland DeSouza told Guyana Chronicle that two weeks prior to President David Granger’s visit to the village in February this year, the village was told by a welfare officer at Mabaruma that the school has been gazetted.

The information was mentioned during a meeting with the education official and a team from the Regional Democratic Council (RDC) and residents on February 4, 2018.

He said the villagers welcomed the news since for many years residents have been calling on the education authorities to have the school operate independently.

The education official also said that the documentation regarding the gazette was send back to Georgetown to be corrected since there were spelling errors.

He noted however that the news from the education department may have been false since further checks with the Regional Education Officer at Mabaruma revealed that the school remains an annex of the Wauna Primary.

DeSouza said the officer mentioned to a school teacher that he knew “nothing of the sort” regarding the school.

The village captain said the villagers felt “cheated” since residents were prepared to assist in any way possible to further develop the school’s image.

The school remains without a fence and supplies which are usually dispatched to the school are re-routed through the Wauna Primary School.

“Things do not come directly to us from Mabaruma and sometimes we do not get the full amount of supplies such as stationary,” the village leader said.

In addition, he said the washroom facilities at the school remain in a dire state.

He said one day prior to President Granger’s visit to White Water in February, workers from Mabaruma “rushed in” to the village to fix the washroom facilities but according to him, nothing could be done at that eleventh hour.

DeSouza said three years ago, the regional authorities made promises to gazette the institution, and according to him, the wait appears in vain.