Students and teachers at the Holy Family Primary School on Laws Street in central Kingston had an uncomfortable start to the new school year yesterday.

"Everything was in place here and the staff and parents worked together to ensure that the facility was ready for the children, but we have been let down by the agency responsible for removing the garbage," the school's principal, Cecille Palmer, said as she pointed to a mountain of rubbish just outside the gate of the school.

"I have called every day since last week and even this morning, I tried and yet the garbage has not been removed," Palmer added.

She said that, in the past, the waste-removal agency would pick up the school's garbage up to three times each week, but now there are claims that the education ministry is paying for garbage collection only once each week.

"It is not sanitary, and sometimes when the smell gets high, we have to move the children from the block of classrooms adjoining the area where the garbage is stored and place them under trees," an obviously disappointed Palmer said.

Assurance given

She was supported by Conrad Senior, the president of the parent-teacher association, who said he had called the National Solid Waste Management Authority and was given assurances that the garbage would have been collected before yesterday's official start of the school year.

However, yesterday morning, the eyesore greeted everyone entering the school.

"This is unacceptable! If we ask children to learn in this mess, they will believe that it is okay to be in squalor all the time," Senior said.

arthur.hall@gleanerjm.com