‘We are ashamed’: Maritime University students speak on arrest of president in corruption scandal
A number of students at the Caribbean Maritime University (CMU) in Kingston are expressing disappointment over the arrest of the institution’s President Fritz Pinnock.
They say they feel ashamed and feel that they are being scrutinised while out in the public in their uniform. Some also believe that Pinnock’s arrest is a stain on the institution.
“I’m disappointed in the fact that the leader of the institution which I attended is caught up in such a horrific scandal,” one third-year student told BUZZ.
Another student added: “This is what I think: If he was really involved he should be sent to prison. The reason for me saying this is because being the face of such a noble institution and a man perceived by students as a ‘man for the people’… I looked up to him.”
Said another student: “Whenever I walk by somebody in town I hear them talking about it and I feel some type of way.”
Pinnock was arrested on Wednesday (Oct 9) along with former Education Minister Ruel Reid, Reid’s wife Sharen, their daughter Sharelle and Councillor for the Browns Town Division in St Ann Kim Brown-Lawrence.
They are charged in a multimillion-dollar corruption scandal relating to the Education Ministry and the CMU. They were offered bail on Thursday (Oct 10) and are to return to the Kingston and St Andrew Parish Court next January.
— Written by Danea Dunkley
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