By KHRISNA VIRGIL

Tribune Staff Reporter

kvirgil@tribunemedia.net

Two schools were forced to close their doors yesterday as smoke from the New Providence landfill fire blanketed surrounding areas - and students at one of the schools reportedly fell unconscious earlier in the week.

The closures come as officials from both Aquinas College at Gladstone Road and the Meridian School at Unicorn Village, just off JFK Drive, said the air quality was just too poor to allow students to continue attending classes.

Immediate action was taken at Aquinas, said a parent who wanted to remain anonymous, after two students reportedly fell unconscious earlier in the week due to smoke inhalation.

When The Big T contacted the school, neither the principal or the vice-principal were available for comment. However, a school employee said classes were cancelled yesterday because of the dangerous smoke. She declined further comment.

The closure of the two schools follows assurances from Deputy Director at the Department of Environmental Health Services Thomasina Wilson, who said that the fire and thick smoke in several areas was no reason for residents to evacuate their homes. 

Ms Wilson said people needed only to keep their windows closed.

She added that officials saw no need for tests to be carried out to determine the toxicity of the air.

The parent said: “Those poor children had to endure that smoke for days before the school decided to close their doors. Their excuse was that because school fees were being paid, the children would still need to attend and endure the conditions.

“So what they did was kept those children closed up in their homeroom classes all day while the smoke was all around. The administration didn’t even say anything to parents. School fees are near $1,500 per term, we deserve better.”

At the Meridian School, director Lisa McCartney, wife of DNA leader Branville McCartney, said she took action earlier in the week after noticing that the atmosphere around her school was unsuitable for children to breathe for long periods of time.

While yesterday was a parent-teacher day for the school, Mrs McCartney confirmed that she advised parents of the ongoing conditions since Monday. On that day, parents were given the option to pick up their children at an earlier time.

The next day, she said, conditions were bearable until about 11am when the smell of smoke was “just too strong”.

However, by early Wednesday morning, she said the smoke was too thick and parents were told that there would be no school.

Mrs McCartney urged the government to take seriously the health implications of such instances as the dump fire, which has been ongoing since late last week. Officials revealed that they were battling three fires at once which were increasing the volume of toxic fumes in the air.

She said: “I see people coming on the TV every day talking about what they are doing to put out this fire, but I don’t hear of anyone or see anybody educating Bahamians on how to dispose of their waste, especially when we are dealing with electronics.

“This dump should have been dealt with from seven or eight years ago, and yet still today we are combating these fires. When is the government going to take the dump site seriously?”

Mrs McCartney said the government should seriously consider clean air initiatives, proper recycling measures and serious education for Bahamians on the proper means to dispose electronic waste.