Care Bear Basic School teacher, Diana Taffe, lifts the sheet of zinc that was used to cover one of four manholes after the original metal cover was stolen from the school compound. (Photo: Karl McLarty)

STUDENTS and teachers at the Care Bear Basic School on Nelson Road in Kingston have been placed at risk, after vandals stole several manhole covers at the rear of the school compound, leaving them open to possible health problems and serious accidents.

The school administration has since forbidden students from playing in that section of the compound.

"We had to stop them from going around there, children would play in that area during break periods, but since the covers were stolen, we had to lock the back entrance," Diana Taffe, a teacher at the school told the Observer.

In addition, the students and teachers have for the past week been forced to endure foul odours coming from the four manholes where the covers were stolen.

"Every time we flush the toilet the water runs through the pipes and because they are not covered the odour rises," Taffe said.

She said that many parents have raised concerns about the health hazard but said the school is not capable of replacing the covers as they do not have the money.

The metal covers, which according to the National Works Agency (NWA) cost upwards of $12,000 each, were allegedly stolen and sold as part of a booming underground scrap metal racket.

According to an Observer source, the covers are sold to metal shops outside of Kingston.
"After them have the material, them melt it down, cut it up and sell it," the source said.

On a visit to the school Tuesday, a sheet of zinc was seen covering the pipes where the metal covers once shielded staff and students. The stench of raw sewage pervaded the atmosphere as students looked longingly at the empty space where they once enjoyed recess.

It seemed the thieves were not content with just the manhole covers, as isolated screws stood as lone reminders of the area where the school's lightning rod was once attached to the side of the building.

A small desk stood beside the school's rear wall, which according to the teachers, was used by the criminals to gain access to the compound.

Meanwhile, the school's administration is asking members of the public to contribute towards replacing the manhole covers as, according to Communications Officer for the NWA, Steven Shaw, they are not the NWA's responsibility.

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