Ufaufa Primary badly affected by storm and strong winds

THE Ufaufa Primary School is the most affected of seven schools on Goodenough Island in Milne Bay from strong winds that caused havoc in the area last month.
Ufaufa Primary head teacher Joab Diweni said: “The school has lost a lot of its infrastructure and it is very costly.” Seven classrooms and seven teachers’ houses were destroyed by strong winds.
“The damage is estimated to be between K200,000 and K300,000, to put everything back to normal,” he said.
School chairman Eric Gawa said: “As a result of the disaster, teachers are not teaching. They are working to clean debris around their homes, waterways and toilets to prevent an outbreak of disease.”
Ufaufa has a student population of 258.
Diweni said relief materials were an issue.
The main concern for the school is to settle down its grade 8 students before their examinations in October.
The principal education adviser of the province, Roma Tuidam, said: “The destruction to the school’s infrastructure is quite bad, so the provincial education board at present is suspended so communities can resort to sorting themselves out and soon after they are done, maintenance will be done to the school.”