For more than a decade, the Gasparillo Early Childhood Care and Education (ECCE) Centre stood hidden behind overgrown bushes, its rooms vandalised and its halls used as a refuge by the homeless. Now, after years of frustration from residents, the long-abandoned facility may finally be given a new purpose.
The centre, one of 26 ECCEs built across the country under the People’s Partnership government between 2010 and 20215 at a combined cost of $312 million, was never opened. Instead, it fell into disrepair, becoming an eyesore on Church Street next to the Gasparillo Government Primary School.
Yesterday, however, a clean-up effort began on the compound. Gasparillo/Bonne Aventure councillor Ravi Pooran Maharaj led a team of residents who cleaned up the compound, revealing the scale of the neglect. Inside the building, they found broken glass, walls defaced, and rooms strewn with garbage and even sheets and pillows, signs that the centre had long served as a shelter for the homeless.
Tabaquite MP Sean Sobers, who visited during the exercise, described the scene as heartbreaking.
“I am angry. Everybody here is angry. It is ridiculous. The purpose of the centre was to assist children, and only wicked people would want to do something like that to children. I do not think any reasonable-minded person would feel any differently about it,” Sobers said.
He explained that residents had been calling on the authorities for years, even offering to assist with getting the facility into use, but their appeals went unanswered under the previous administration.
He said Education Minister Dr Michael Dowlath has now assured that the Gasparillo centre will be treated as a priority project.
While its original purpose was pre-school education, the community is now advocating for a hybrid use. Sobers believes it can still serve as an ECCE, while also functioning as a creative arts hub in the evenings for young people and community groups.
The nearby Gasparillo Police Station has also expressed interest in using part of the compound to park vehicles, something Sobers said could directly improve policing in the area. Additionally, the Gasparillo Government Primary School has requested access to the centre’s grounds as a playfield, and discussions will be held with the ministries of Education and Public Utilities about constructing a connecting doorway.
Sobers said the Government is fully backing the initiative, with several ministries expected to come on board. He estimated that with community partnerships and restoration work guided by a quantity surveyor, the centre could be ready for use within three to six months.
Although the cost of rehabilitation is yet to be determined, Sobers said the community had already paid a high price through years of neglect and lost opportunity.
“At least somebody under the previous administration should have taken an interest in Gasparillo to maintain this facility, but no one did,” he said.
