Eden Lodge school closed, odour probe continues

E den Lodge Primary School is to remain closed until further notice amid an investigation into a pungent odour that has disrupted classes on at least three days this week, with staff and students reporting burning eyes, nausea and dizziness. The school will be closed on Friday as investigations continue into the odour detected nearby, the Ministry of Education Transformation said on Thursday. The announcement follows early dismissals on at least three days this week after staff and students detected a strong odour, which some suspected was caused by a gas leak. When Barbados TODAY visited the school on Wednesday, fire officials and officials from the Barbados National Oil Company were on the campus investigating the odour.

“The Ministry of Education Transformation continues to work closely with the Ministry of Health and Wellness to investigate the source of malodor detected around the environs of the Eden Lodge Primary School plant, which also houses a section of the Good Shepherd Primary School population,” said the statement. It continued: “Out of an abundance of caution, the ministry has decided to allow the school(s) to remain closed until further notice and environmental testing is carried out. Parents, teachers and staff will be apprised of these results once they are made available. ” Julian Pierre, who chairs the Barbados Union of Teachers’ occupational safety and health committee, told Barbados TODAY that the school’s shop steward had reported a “foul odour permeating somewhere around the property or surrounding areas of the Eden Lodge Primary School”. The odour affected both students and teachers, he said. “Persons on the compound, both adults and the students, complained of some symptoms including itching and burning eyes, itching skin and bitter taste in…