NEW YORK, USA — A New York-based non-profit body says it plans to seek the help of Jamaica’s Ministry of Education to locate 44 missing tablets, part of a consignment of 80, which was intended for students of Charlemont High School near Linstead in St Catherine.

The Friends of Charlemont High School, whose members are past students of the school, is registered and operates under the laws of the State of New York and the Federal laws governing non-profits in the United States.

In an interview with the Jamaica Observer, three of the principal officers of the Friends of Charlemont High — President David Marshall, Vice-President Benjamin Powell, and Treasurer Michael Braithwiate — said the decision was taken to seek the ministry’s help after months of unsuccessful efforts to locate the tablets.

“Those efforts included at least one meeting, several telephone calls and text messages with the principal of the school, Garth Gayle. We also sought the intervention of the head of the school board Dr Carol Clarke, but with no success,” said Marshall.

The shipment of the tablets was done in May last year through McFarlane Shippers located in Brooklyn, the organisation said.

However, Marshall said that it was not until December that they were informed that the tablets, which records indicate were cleared on December 10, were ready to be delivered to the school.

He said that when they questioned the reason for the delay, they were told by the shipping agent that it was due to administrative hurdles.

In a telephone interview, Clive McFarlane, who heads the shipping company, said he had advised the group that it would have been better to ship the items straight to the school rather than as part of a larger container shipment.

Regarding the delay, he said the container had been on the wharf for about two months but he also left open the option to “possible help with the replacement of some of the missing tablets in the interest of the students of the school”.

Principal Gayle did not respond to e-mails and text messages seeking comment on the matter.

Dr Clarke said that the board has received responses from the commissioner of customs and the custom broker who handled the shipment, and that she had shared more than 14 pieces of documents related to the matter with members of the group.

But disclosure of the details would have to await the next school board meeting and the completion of investigations into the loss of the tablets.

The apparent disappearance of the tablets has incensed past students who raised US$7,000 to acquire them as part of a larger donation of 80 tablets. Some have openly questioned the value of getting involved in activities to assist the school.