Councillor Hosein Slams Gov’t for Striking out Reform Hindu School from Budget

Councillor for Reform / Manahambre Chris Arshad Hosein has questioned why the completion of the Reform Hindu School has been struck off the Government’s 2021 Development Programme. According to Councillor Hosein, the Government has shown a blatant disregard for the students of Reform Hindu School as they have completely wiped out any prospect of completing the school as they have not allocated any funds for the project in the 2021 National Budget under the Draft Estimates of Expenditure.

Councillor Hosein stated “after reviewing the budget documents, I went back a couple years. The last time the construction of the Reform Hindu School appeared in any budget documents was the 2017 Draft Estimates of Expenditure where two million dollars ($2,000,000.00) was allocated for the project which was evidently unspent. It has since been struck off the budget documents with no funding being allocated to or not even mention of the project.” Hosein continued “It is clear that the Government has no intention of completing this project. The parents and students have protested dozens of times with absolutely nothing being done. The government has completely neglected and disregarded the children of Reform Hindu School out of what could only be described as pure spite and malice.”

In addition, Councillor Chris Hosein stated “with school not in session, this is the opportune time for the government to complete the school and undertake all necessary remedial work on other schools in preparation for when we go back to normal. What we have is a lackadaisical attitude by the government and when we return back to normal, the issues with this and other schools will persist and it is only the children who will be made to suffer. This is unacceptable.”

Councillor Chris Hosein demanded answers from the Ministry of Education on what happens next for the school and lamented that the structure which was approximately 95% complete in 2015 is now falling into disrepair. This, according to the councillor, will cost the taxpayers extra as repair works would now need to be conducted before continuing with the completion. Councillor Hosein described the move as “retrograde, malicious and completely absurd.” He called on the Minister of Education to provide an explanation on why government continues to neglect Reform Hindu School.