Member of Parliament Michael Phillips advocates for Mile Gully High School

MICHAEL Phillips, MP for Manchester North West, on Tuesday pleaded for help for Mile Gully High School, the only secondary school in the rural constituency.

“One of the most frustrating issues is our schools and their infrastructure – particularly Mile Gully High School – and the state of our primary schools across the constituency,” Phillips told parliament during his State of the Constituency debate.

“In 2014, after approaching the bauxite company WINDALCO, we were able to access 40 acres of land near the current school for a new home for Mile Gully High. Every minister of education has visited the physical training center and the proposed new site. The Ministry of Education confirmed that they really own 40 hectares. I have heard countless times in industry presentations that the construction process for a new school will begin this fiscal year; Well, we’re not even close to that reality yet,” Phillips said.

“Mile Gully High is the only secondary school in the North West Manchester district, with 730 pupils; a school complex for 1200-1500 students is needed. We have only six habitable classrooms for 730 students. Four years ago, two houses were condemned by the Department of Health and the Ministry of Education; and let’s not even mention the staff room which was leaking like a sieve, the bathrooms are not suitable for students, what we call a dining room is a joke – neither for the cooks nor for the students,” Phillips said.

The two makeshift classrooms, he told the House, were built by teachers and students with some materials donated by him, the school and other stakeholders. However, according to the deputy, the infrastructure is not suitable for a lyceum.

“I am again asking the Ministry of Education to consider Mile Gully High School as a priority. We really want to hear something positive about our new school plant.

“I tried to find out the responsibilities of the Ministry of Education and the deputy regarding school infrastructure. If it’s fencing, we hear “Call the MP”; if it is paint, “Call the deputy”; if it is the repair of the dining room, “Call the deputy”; if it’s potholes in the school yard, “Call the deputy”; if there is no water in the school, “Call the Member of Parliament”; if the roof leaks, “Call the deputy”; if a school needs a staff room, “call the deputy,” said a clearly frustrated Phillips.

“Why are schools in rural communities treated as if they should not be centers of learning for our children? Most of our school infrastructure has not changed in many decades; the classrooms are hot and the infrastructure is woefully inadequate for teachers to teach and our students to learn, and that needs to change,” Phillips said.

However, he recognized all the school boards, principals, teachers, and most of all the parents and students of his constituency. “Despite all the difficulties, you continue to make the best of a difficult situation. It’s time to make education better.”

Phillips also expressed concern over the poor state of roads in the constituency.

“Over the past few weeks, taxi operators and other residents have shown their frustration at the continued use of the main thoroughfare by lorries transporting bauxite from Mile Gully to the bauxite company’s Clarendon facility. The condition of (narrow) potholed roads is dangerous for travelers, especially those walking along the roadway.

“I had many discussions with the management of the bauxite company five years ago, expressing my concern about the continued use of the main road by their large and overloaded trucks, and I insisted that they build an access road to bypass the small town of Mile Gully, Mile Gully Elementary and Middle School, SL Blake Early Childhood School and Mile Gully Health Center. Five years later, not a single access road had been built; I even sought the intervention of the Minister of Agriculture and Mining.

“Madam Speaker, let me be clear: the bauxite company is not breaking any laws by using the main road; various government agencies, including NEPA, have given them permission to use Mile Gully’s main road, all the way to Clarendon.

“My position, like that of many residents, is that the bauxite enterprise should carry out periodic maintenance of the roadway, including periodic installation of the bushing, when using the public roadway.

I am also concerned about the condition the community will be left in when the bauxite company has mined all the bauxite they need. As has happened in many communities, people will be worse off than when they found them. We are not rich, but we will not be poorer,” said Phillips.

He insisted that the bauxite company must develop the promised transport road as soon as possible, and he called on the company to engage in dialogue with its transport contractor over the speed and behavior of their drivers, which he said posed a danger to road users.

“We’re not going to ease up until the haul road is developed,” Phillips said.