Cooreville school gets paint

By Trudy Simpson, Staff Reporter

THE COOREVILLE Gardens Basic school in Kingston yesterday received the 20 gallons of paint promised by paint provider Berger Paints.

Berger offered the paint, after the school was forced to remove paint which is believed to have triggered adverse reaction in students three weeks ago. True Value Hardware also presented the school with 14 tins of paint, yesterday.

On June 4, students were sent home after they complained of sore throats, headaches, respiratory problems, runny noses and burning sensations in their eyes and on their skin.

The reaction was later linked to paint used on the building on Labour Day, May 23.

The Gleaner was told that the faulty paint had not been made by accredited paint providers, but had been purchased in Riverton City from a community project. Subsequent media reports stated that the paint had been made by self-taught paint producers and was donated to the school by Member of Parliament for Western St. Andrew, O.T. Williams.

Mr. Williams has refused to comment on those reports when contacted by The Gleaner.

Last weekend, workmen from Kingston Industrial Construction Limited, sandblasted the bad paint from the inner and outer walls and the school was reopened last Monday.

But, no repainting will be done until the 90 students go on summer holidays, says school board chairman, David Foster.

Mr. Foster said that the school needed nearly $1.3 million to totally repaint the building, replace damaged windows, blackboards and the decrepit fencing and gate. He said that the school has written to Best Dress Foods to help them create a "green area", part of an intended playground for the children.

Following the school's closure, at least eight students had to get emergency medical attention and one was admitted to the Bustamante Children's Hospital and later released.

Samples of the paint have also been collected by the Jamaica Bureau of Standards, but the completed results are still not available, because of technical difficulties with the chromatograph machine used to identify the various solvents in paint. The new deadline given is next Tuesday.

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