ST ELIZABETH, Jamaica — Member of Parliament for St Elizabeth North East Delroy Slowley has increased his assistance to his alma mater, Leeds Primary and Infant, after last week’s devastating fire there.

Slowley reached out to Observer Online to provide an update following a story in Tuesday’s paper headlined “Unbearable heat and smoke Continuation of face-to-face classes at Leeds Primary faces threat”. Among the affected children are grade six students scheduled to sit the Primary Exit Profile (PEP) on Wednesday.

READ: Unbearable heat and scent of smoke

Slowley said he has already provided the school with a generator to power fans.

“There is a generator that I have up there at the school. We have isolated one building and so the PEP students will be accommodated over there in much comfort. The lighting will be in place, that is solar and the fans will be on for tomorrow (Wednesday) morning. A second generator will be on standby just in case we have any issue with the first one that I engaged,” said Slowley, who is also a leading businessman and hardware operator in the nearby town of Santa Cruz.

“I will also be there to ensure that everything gets underway and that the children are not at a disadvantage in any way. We are going all out to ensure that resources reach the school…This is really my alma mater,” he said.

He added that a nearby church property will be used to accommodate some students as a temporary measure.

Slowley explained that he has lobbied for the Ministry of Education to prioritise the restoration of Leeds Primary.

“The ministry is fast-tracking assistance… The infrastructural work takes a little time, it can’t be done at the snap of a finger, but of course, the minister committed based on the fact that it is a fire, it will not go through the normal procurement procedure. It will go through an emergency procurement,” he said.

— Kasey Williams