Cave Hill students protest campus conditions

Regional students living on the halls of residence at the Cave Hill Campus of the University of the West Indies staged a protest this morning after back-to-back major power outages left them without water and spoilt food. 

The students gathered about 8:30 a.m. at the front of the Administration building where the principal’s office is located, chanting for water and a generator and questioning the absence of university officials.

They said they were not informed about the issues and a promised generator was not available even though they are paying for one. 

“Admin didn’t help with the issue either as they gave us three bottles of blue water for 18 people. The water tanks are not working since last semester even though they were told that the issue would be fixed.

“There were three packs of Crix, a few ramen, three corned beef and a few cans of sausages for roughly 180 students in Frank Worrell Hall. This is not enough food for all of us,” said one student. 

The Frank Worrell and Sherlock Hall residents claimed that lack of communication on the hall was routine, and often issues occurred with no statement from the leaders of the institution. 

Meanwhile Director of the Office of Student Services Dale Lynch said that the immediate needs of the students were met, including foodstuff. 

“It was an islandwide inconvenience and because of the communal space, it would be challenging. It wasn’t something that anyone would be prepared for,” Lynch said.  (AC)