QC says fire justifies request for renovations

Chairman of the Board of Directors of Queen’s College, Alfred Granger said the small fire which erupted at the institution Wednesday morning can be used as justification for the school’s request for monies from the government from renovations.

The fire began in an upper six classroom in the Eastern Wing after the ballast in the florescence bulb started to spark. Granger told News Room that some buildings in the compound are in dire need of repairs and that the electrical mishap reaffirmed the need for urgent renovations.

In fact, he explained that a building consultation of the Ministry of Education visited the institution some three weeks ago to assessment the structural soundness of the decades-old buildings.

“He actually came because there were some building issues on the western end and so we were walking the whole building to determine what is wrong with the building,” he explained.

Granger said a decision was made then to change the school’s budget request to include funds to rehabilitate the buildings in the western wing. Subsequently, the Chairman said it was discovered that the buildings on the eastern side were also in need of repairs.

Granger said the school has already requested that monies be budgeted for the renovations in the National Budget 2018. Meanwhile, the small fire was quickly put out by students who are trained to use the fire extinguisher.

According to Granger, the College has a programme to ensure at least one student per classroom knows how to operate the device.