Termites ravage east Port of Spain school during covid19 closure

The staff of St Martin Welfare Association Early Childhood Centre on St Paul Street, Port of Spain are facing tremendous damage to furniture and school supplies as termites have taken over the building while teachers and children worked from home.

Principal of the school Denyse Gibbs said the termites have eaten through everything from desks and cabinets to crayons, colour pencils and other resources. The damage done by the invasive insects will cost an estimated $25,000 to treat.

Gibbs said the staff first noticed the issue in April, when they returned to the school to check on it after schools closed and students were sent to work from home on March 13.

She said when she got there, she noticed a tree next to the building infested with termites. To be safe, she called someone to have it sprayed.

“That was it,” she said. “I did not pay it too much attention.”

Gibbs said in June, when there was talk about the possibility of schools reopening in September, staff returned to the premises to prepare.

“When we returned, we saw the cupboards were eaten, storybooks and everything. It was really a lot of termites, because we had wooden storage.”

The staff tried to salvage as much as they could, but too much was lost. She said they went looking for the termites' nest, assuming it was in the trees outside. School manager Claudia Ottley contacted the Defence Force and the Port of Spain Corporation, which helped by cutting the trees down.

But Gibbs said the officials told her there was no sign of a termite’s nest in the trees.

The staff continued investigated the problem and asked pest control service provider Rentokil to examine the building. In July, Rentokil told them the termites were in fact coming from underground.

“(Rentokil) even checked the ceiling…to ensure the termites were not making a nest in there.”

At the end of the inspection, the school was handed a $25,000 invoice to treat the damage. The Rentokil representative said the job required him to drill holes in and around the building and next to it to put chemicals underground to find the nest.

“We don’t have that kind of money,” said Gibbs. “(But) he said the longer we wait, the more the termites will spread.

"I told him $25,000 is not easy money.”

Gibbs said the school followed the proper channels, first contacting the local councillor, who forwarded the matter to MP for Port of Spain South Keith Scotland.

“The MP wanted a structural damage listing, so we explained we don’t have any structural damage, but we need materials.”

She said the school has not yet received a response.

“Everything is at a standstill, but I am not giving up hope. We have to do what we have to do.”

She said the school is accepting donations of second-hand resources, but under the circumstances, cannot accept wooden materials. She said it needs at least three metal storage cabinets, filing cabinets, chairs, reams of paper, storybooks, and stationery for the children.

Gibbs said she has not mentioned the extent of the damage to parents yet because she feels they already have enough on their plates, especially with Christmas right around the corner.

“They have their personal issues to deal with. Parents are already calling about receiving Christmas hampers from the welfare association. It’s been a tough year for some of them, so I haven’t said anything.”

She said the school serves many low-income and single-parent families in the community and they are also struggling to keep up with the new online environment, as many students do not have proper access to devices and connectivity, and use cell phones with data.

“When that data is up, we don’t see them,” she said.

“There are a lot of challenges for online learning in this community (John John and environs).”

Because of their age, she added, parents tend to prioritise the older children in the household to access online classes first and the little ones after.

“We try recordings so when they are able to access a device, they can."

Gibbs said the Ministry of Education’s decision to continue home-based learning in the second term, beginning in January , has saved the school some time to get ready to resume face-to-face classes, but she fears at this rate, even if schools were to reopen in the third term, the school will not be ready.

She said she estimated replacing resources will cost an additional $13,000.

“It’s a lot. We tried making it up on our own, but how much can we do?”

President of the St Martin Welfare Association Frank Cooper, who has been with the school since its inception in the 1980s, said it was started with a few children from the area, in the hills of John John. As the school grew, the structure on St Paul Street was built.

“The public is very much in need of the school,” he said, adding the team also provides breakfast and lunch to students and facilitates other vocational projects on the premises.

He said the association is also working toward facilitating a homework centre for children in the area.

Anyone wanting to help can contact Gibbs at 721-7919. Donations can also be made at Republic Bank, account number 340018518801.