STUDENTS residing at the Rex Nettleford Hall at University of the West Indies, Mona Campus, have threatened to take legal action against the institution if their demand for a 50 per cent rebate on living expenses paid over to the institution during the last school year is not met.

Hall chairman Yohann White, said the money would represent compensation to the hall’s 800 students for inconveniences they suffered, as a result of absent facilities over the period which prompted the students to call in the Consumer Affairs Commission (CAC) to have the matter resolved.

“We pay the highest [living expenses] on the campus and much of the key services and facilities promised were not delivered well until after our first semester.” White told the Observer.

White said he, along with other executives of the student body, had consultation with the CAC to see what legal actions can be taken against the university.

According to hall chairman, the CAC was called in after key facilities including the laundromat, Internet service, study room, computer lab, hot water for some clusters and phone lines to accommodate outside calls remained undelivered months after the hall opened in September of 2002. In addition, several other facilities were said to be malfunctioning and in need of repairs.

The university, he said, moved to improve the services and put in missing facilities soon after the CAC was called in, but is yet to give the students any positive response pertaining to a rebate, as recommended by the commission.

“After the CAC came in and assessed the situation, it recommended that we be compensated for the period we were without the use of these facilities at the institution, but the institution has virtually ignored the conclusion reached by the CAC,” White said. “The CAC said the institution should come up with a reasonable rebate,” he added.

Said White: “We want them to accept the commission’s ruling, they [UWI] should not disregard these people.”

The $700-million Rex Nettleford Hall, named in honour of the university’s vice-chancellor, was officially opened in September of 2002 in a direct response to growing demand for on-campus accommodation for its students. Prior to the opening of the hall, the institution was able to satisfy only 50 per cent of applications it received.

The 800-room hall consists of eight three-storey clusters with each cluster enclosing a central quadrangle and comprising 12 households. The bulk of the funding, a total of $564-million of the construction cost, was provided by the National Housing Trust.