St Kitts-Nevis government and opposition clash over new school on Basseterre Aquifer

The government in St Kitts and Nevis has been criticised by the opposition over plans to construct the new Basseterre High School on the town’s aquifer.

And chairman of the St Kitts-Nevis Labour Party (SKNLP) Marcella Liburd has described the plans as “a callous and irresponsible act to build any high school on the water table.”

But Prime Minister Timothy Harris defended the project, stating that decisions were guided by experts at all times.

The comments from Liburd came during radio interviews on Freedom 106.5 FM and Kyss 102.5 FM

[caption id="attachment_2099" align="aligncenter" width="500"] Marcella Liburd.[/caption]

The MP for Central Basseterre warned of problems for the environment, as well as the possibly of contamination to water supplies.

“We cannot take any chances. It has to be an uncaring government to do that bearing in mind that you have chances of contamination of a water system,” she said.

“Why would the government want to tamper with our water system that is used daily for manufacturing, drinking, cooking, bathing and supplying hotels and restaurants when any form of contamination can affect the lives and the health of residents and visitors?”

‘Suffering’

The Team Unity government has moved the school to a temporary wooden structure that uses the same desks, chairs and air conditioning units from the previous site.

The opposition claim that a number of recently purchased containers planned to house students remain unused months after their arrival.

Terrance Drew, SKNLP caretaker for St Christopher 8, believes that students continue to suffer at the temporary facilities, which he says lack the necessary chemistry, physics, biology and computer labs and home management centres.

“The Christian Council, the Evangelical Association, the Bar Association, the Hotel Association and other NGOs which were active before the change of government are now silent and stand by and watch while the students and teachers are suffering,” he said.

“Who will stand up for them?”

Professionally guided

Government ministers have strongly denied that there is any concerns surrounded the new site for Basseterre High School.

At the end of May, Cromwell Williams, director of public works, said he could understand concerns “due to the fact that this area is considered an environmentally sensitive area” but that plans had been made to avoid any issues.

“The fact that we have chosen this site, which is at the southern end of the aquifer, in itself is a mitigation step in that it is downstream of the wells and the water in this area moves from north to south,” Williams said.

“So, by the time it gets to this area on its way to the sea, it would have passed the wells already.

“Notwithstanding that we will ensure that in the design and construction that adequate redundancies are put in place to deal with any possibility of any spill of any kind of waste whatsoever.”

And last week the the deputy prime minister – who is also minister of education – explained that the government had commissioned a number of reports to ensure they were making the right deacon.

[caption id="attachment_2379" align="alignleft" width="300"] Deputy Prime Minister Shawn Richards.[/caption]

“At no point in time the cabinet depended upon its own advice in determining the site for the new Basseterre High School. At all points throughout the process, technical persons, experts have been engaged to guide the cabinet in coming to a decision,” Shawn Richards said.

He quoted a report by geologist Sandy Nettles, president of NS Nettles and Associates and Ocean Earth Technologies, who said that “consequently, activities/schools along the southwestern corner of the well field property will be unlikely to contaminate the supply well/ground water source that is in the northern part of the well field property.”

And the prime minister has previously noted that he believes his government was acting responsibly in the decision to construct the school in Ponds Estate.