Foreign help may be needed to find Montrose Vedic insects

AFTER weeks of testing and examination by a dermatologist to find what has been biting teachers and students at Montrose Vedic Primary School, the Ministry of Education may have to seek foreign intervention to find the source.

President of the school’s Parent Teachers’ Association (PTA) Larry Dilchan said the association is satisfied with the number of interventions by the ministry over the past few weeks to address the problem, which has been going on for years. The MOE has partnered with the Ministry of Health, the Public Health Department at the Chaguanas Borough Corporation, the Education Facilities Company Ltd (EFCL) and MTS as they try to identify and eradicate the problem. However, these interventions are yet to yield any results.

In the interim, some teachers and students continue to stay away as the still unidentified biting insects cause pain and discomfort for those who occupy the building.

Dilchan told the Newsday on Monday morning that the Public Health Department is doing an environmental assessment.

“They started with the internals of the school and are supposed to continue with the environs. Last Tuesday, a dermatologist from the MOH examined affected teachers and students and a report is expected to be submitted to the MOE, so we await the findings.”

Dilchan said officers from the Insect Vector Unit placed two insect traps in the last week but did not find anything. A carbon dioxide trap, a more technical device, was brought in, and the trap set. That trap was removed last Friday.

“We are hoping to get some word on what this would have found, but in the event the findings are inconclusive, there is a real possibility we may have to seek foreign intervention to get people and the technology for what we suspect might be there.”

Dilchan recalled that several years ago the PTA hired a private environmental company to do an assessment and one suspect was that the source of the problem was microscopic mites.

“At that time, we did not have anybody capable of testing for that. We are still limited in testing for microscopic mites. So after one more stage of testing. the ministry may have to seek foreign technical expertise.”

The PTA president encouraged teachers and students to submit medical reports and photographs of the irritations on their skin to the principal so they could be included in a report she is compiling for the ministry.

He also said the PTA was developing a partnership with the business community for an electrical upgrade of the school to allow the installation of air conditioning. Air conditioning the school is one of the suggestions put forward to treat with the problem, because of the poor air quality in the environment and the fact that the problem escalates in heat.

“This is not a cheap endeavour and it would require approvals from different agencies, so it would take some time,” Dilchan said.