by NEVILLE CLARKE
Fire has struck at the Parkinson Secondary School in the Pine for the third time in six weeks.
And reports indicate that the fire was started in three places in the staff room around 1:15 a.m on Tuesday, leaving a chair completely burnt.
When a team from the DAILY NATION visited the scene early yesterday morning, several senior members of the Royal Barbados Police Force were busy searching for clues.
Minister of Education, Youth Affairs and Sports, Reginald Farley, accompanied by senior members of the ministry, visited the school yesterday morning.
Reacting to yesterday's fire, principal Keith Alleyne, said: "The staff is certainly devastated by the third fire in six weeks. We are very concerned about its effect on the students because fifth formers have just returned to school, and teachers were eager to make up for the lost time. This is going to be another setback because the teachers are not in the mood to teach. We may have to send the students home for the remainder of the day."
Giving his views on the fire, Alleyne said a chair in the staff room was completely burnt out, adding that without the quick action of the security personnel on duty, the staff room would have been destroyed.
Lit in three places
The principal said that whoever was responsible for starting the fire had lit it in three places.
Addressing the issue of security at the school, Alleyne said: "I think we would have to look at the security. Since this is the third attempt, we would certainly have to examine security at the school."
The principal explained that originally four watchmen were employed at the school, but currently there were only two.
He said management would also have to improve the lighting on the compound.
Head of the police squad investigating the fire, Assistant Commissioner of Police Seymour Cumberbatch, told the DAILY NATION they were very concerned about the incidents and would leave no stone unturned in finding the culprit(s) responsible for starting the fires.
On December 3 a blaze at the school destroyed the principal's office, while on December 30, a fire destroyed the top floor of Block C and damaged the ground floor, leaving the St Michael school without fourth and fifth form rooms, or a library. |