ST ELIZABETH, Jamaica — Member of Parliament for St Elizabeth North Eastern, Delroy Slowley, says Sunday night’s fire at his alma mater, Leeds Primary School, has affected “the brain of the school”.

“All the records have been absolutely destroyed, all the manual records from decades ago, way back, so that will definitely have a serious impact as we go forward in terms of persons who would have wanted to ascertain historical data, including myself, because I am also a past student from the 1980s,” he said by telephone on Monday.

Fire gutted the school’s library, staff room, principal’s office, and a classroom late Sunday night.

READ: ‘Everything is gone’

“It is a really big hit. I have been a part of the institution from way back, as I was also board chairman for about 12 years. My heart is bleeding,” he said.

He said Education Minister Senator Dr Dana Morris-Dixon has been responsive to the incident.

“She has committed to ensuring that we get going as soon as possible, and based on the nature of the situation, it is dire. Normally for procurement, it would be a length of time but under this situation we are going to have to look at emergency procurement,” he said.

He said among the options being looked at is to utilise a church hall “next door” to the school.

“We are going to make arrangements to have classes being conducted at that venue to get more students coming in face-to-face,” he said.

— Kasey Williams