The 2004 queries I had made as a parent of a student regarding the bad state of Liceo M.A. Vassalli, including serious potential health and safety risks and other incurred incidents, to the planning department of the Education Division, which were also published on 6 March 2005 in your newspaper, were ignored as the DPED did not bother to answer. But in recent months the Education Department officially announced that plans are in the pipeline to completely re-build the Handaq School next to the existing one in 2-3 years time without any consideration for present students.

Although it seems a positive step, it is cause for concern. At first I took an egoistic attitude adopted by other parents – I don’t care as my boy would have left by the time the building is completed. But since the present students have been unfairly treated as they were not temporarily transferred to the new Karwija school till the school is rebuilt, and the dangerous fire that broke out at paint factory in San Gwann, I as a parent just cannot keep silent about the potential risk factor of the Handaq school site. Remember, it’s situated in Handaq industrial area, at the lowest part of the valley; its neighbour across the street is the largest solvent/paint factory in Malta. Common sense indicates that even if a fire is controlled, water used to extinguish the flames will probably end at the school like rain water does, not to mention the fumes or explosions.

Therefore, apart from the other risks such as flooding, industrial area, depleted school site and the fireworks factory, the ED (with all the good intentions and excuses) has now opted not to transfer the Handaq students (with their 10 years overdue site nightmare), and use the Karwija school for Mqabba, Qrendi, Zurrieq district. The present students will have to put up with all that construction going on, and its consequences within their own site. One can give me lot of good, planning reasons on paper but hey we live in Malta. It is very hard to believe that this will not hinder their school routine with all its present problems whatever the guarantees, when we know that we cannot clean a beach or public place even though they are important to tourism! What guarantees do we have that places such as the main hall, sports grounds, science labs and similar rooms will not be affected in a way that student attendance is 100 per cent?

I only hope that after the San Gwann factory fire, which affected schools far away, the Education Department and MEPA re-consider their responsibility towards our boys and find an alternative site, and transfer the current students as soon as possible. Please do not treat our boys as industrial objects. Is this the kind of respect and moral environmental obligations the children are accorded, with all the nice plans forwarded! The site won’t be wasted because factories can be built there. Two wrongs don’t make a right but from some worse case scenarios one can choose the best of them. The Health & Safety aspect should have been prioritised above academic reasons when deciding where to site a new school.

Vincent Scerri

MELLIEHA