STUDENTS in Coomacka, Old England, Nottinghamshire and Three Friends, Region 10, can now attend school in Linden free of cost, following the purchasing of a $14.5M 30-seater bus by the Region 10 administration.

The bus arrived in Linden as was officially handed over to the Department of Education on Friday, and should commence operations in the new week. In 2016, a school bus was gifted to the community through the David G 5 Bs Initiative but the children were unable to benefit from continuous transportation service, due to mechanical problems, since it was not suitable for the rough terrain.

The parents of students continued to struggle to pay for transportation which costs some $500 a day. At the handing over, Regional Chairman Renis Morian said the administration is following the mandate of the government, to enable children attend school regularly, through provision of free transportation. This was especially needed for the mined-out areas because the communities are about 15 miles from Linden.

“What you see now is a fulfilment of government’s promise to the people of Upper Demerara-Upper Berbice and more pertinently, the people of Coomacka and that environment to make sure that the children have reliable transportation that they can be in school,” he said.

He mandated Regional Education Officer (REDO), Rabrindra Singh, to ensure proper systems are enacted to ensure the bus is maintained. The bus, he said, must not be used for any other purpose but to take the children to and from school.

Regional Executive Officer, Orrin Gordon, who was instrumental in the purchasing of the bus, said he is happy it was finally delivered to the region, after a four-month waiting period from the supplier. He was hoping that the bus would have been made available at the start of the term last September.

“We are happy that the bus has been delivered and to add that the service is great… with the bus being here, we are very happy to move forward,” he said.
REDO Singh said the bus will boost the department’s agenda of further development and a committee will oversee its proper use.

“As the REDO, I would like to assure all that this bus would be used effectively and to assure the students of Coomacka that the transportation difficulties they have faced for a while would no longer exist,” he said.