What happens when you rattle the pedestals of the modern-day gods of education and religion, and the sense of entitlement of a group intent to exert its right to carry on a business in hitherto patently residential areas? It results in folks who might normally be considered upright and rational citizens launching scathing campaigns.
The "game" is on. We versus them. All manner of gimmickry and propaganda hide the real issues. It is okay to be a bully. Let us press on and see who dares to confront or confound us.
Governmental organisations are maligned and harried by groups representing "families" and headed by irate people who are now stymied and angry when law-abiding citizens rally to protect their right to the peaceful enjoyment of their homes.
Why should the eminently poor planning management of any organisation be given special favour by Government organisations to the detriment of the common good of the neighbourhood into which they want to bully their way? Is justice being served thereby?
And what of the little children who are being used so skillfully to further the ill-conceived plans of these adults?
I, for one, cannot abide seeing them referred to as "our kids" on the side of a building. Goats have kids, humans have children.
What kind of education and attitudes are they unwittingly absorbing? No one has rights but us select few? Don't count the cost before you start a project because someone else will be found to pay for your mistakes? Might trumps right?
This little nation does not need families and neighbourhoods being split on this matter. We don't need this tension.
My humble opinion, which it is my right to express, is that the methods used to put a school where no school is needed, have totally distorted and destroyed whatever "special merits" it has claimed as its reasons for being. A building is not a school. It is a building. Merriam-Webster defines "school" as an organisation that provides instruction.
To the best of my knowledge, there has been no governmental study to indicate that the Maraval population warrants another school.
Let us not forget that this is a private initiative. The public should not be required to bear the inconvenience of a private enterprise.
Margaret Hadeed