Mould remediation works at BVI schools have not been abandoned
Premier Andrew Fahie has insisted that remediation works to address the longstanding issue of mould at local public schools have not been abandoned.
“[The mould remediation is] still ongoing,” Premier Fahie said. “The Minister of Education has done a good job with his team to address it. We take mould very seriously and wherever that exists, we continue to make sure that we address it.”
The Premier’s statement, made at a recent press conference, comes on the heels of a mould episode that forced the temporary closure of the Elmore Stoutt High School’s Pasea Estate campus for a brief period several weeks ago.
At the time of the incident, Education Minister Dr Natalio Wheatley said he gave instructions for the Clarence Thomas Building at the Pasea campus to be cleaned, and this was expected to cost more than $50,000.
“Leonora Delville, Ivan Dawson, Joyce Samuel, Francis Lettsome, Alexindrina Maduro, Enis Adams and Jost Van Dyke are among the schools remediated for mould this school year, and we have scheduled more cleanings at other schools where we have identified problems,” Dr Wheatley said at the time.
Meanwhile, Premier Fahie expressed that the issue of mould should never be played with and stated that over the years mould has been allowed to build up in the schools.
He added: “We have to deal with it now. It seems like everything just fall during our administration—fall on us to deal with and some of those who didn’t address it are the ones asking us. But we have to deal with it. We signed up for it so we have to deal with it.”
Following his budget address a few weeks ago, the Premier said mould remediation works on all public schools are expected to continue through to 2022.
Dr Wheatley said recently that the government spent close to one million dollars on school maintenance and mould remediation so far this year.
Copyright 2024 BVI News, Media Expressions Limited. All Rights Reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten or distributed.
Foy stop it! stop it!
Andrew is the worse leader I have ever seen. He is a micro manager who likes to get into every single thing. A premier and finance minister making statements on mold in schools? Where is the education minister? He took away all the statutory boards with money and put them under him. Now he is speaking on the other ministers’ subjects… He loves attention and loves to hear his own voice continuously. I can’t wait to see the back of him next election.
As long as that Woman has anything to say or do with leadership, he’ll be
While mold issues are being addressed, please evaluate the offices you rent and address the issues there too.
Thank you
Why is our government responsible for the upkeep of a building we are paying big rent money for. Is it not up to the owner to keep there property habitable.
Some govt officials actually own the buildings rented to the govt.
Was this job advertised and quotations received? Or was this another case of ‘we know someone who knows someone’?
Seems to be taking a very long time to remediate a building that was purportedly sanitized by the RDA while there were refurbishment works at the time…..hmmmmmm…
One company from District 1 getting all the mould cleaning jobs…who is ensuring that they are doing a good job?
Mold requires moisture. Proper building maintenance should include identifying and then repairing sources of water infiltration. This is the purview of building owners. Any remediation without identifying source(s) of moisture is a waste of time and money. Related to this is the absence of qualified third party consultants to investigate these issues and to provide suitable guidance. I seem to recall an instance some years ago in a Tortola school where the mold remediation firm provided its own consultant, presenting a conflict of interest since it’s standard practice for consultant to determine/validate completion of the work.