The Municipal Council of Vila Real de Santo António «disadvises the use of the facilities of the Secondary School of Vila Real de Santo António, taking into account the results – released today – of the emergency inspection carried out by the National Civil Protection Authority», announced the municipality .
"After two weeks of waiting, we already have in our hands the report that proves the lack of conditions at the school and where dozens of serious deficiencies in terms of fire safety in buildings that were never taken care of by Parque Escolar are pointed out," notes Luís Gomes , President of the City Council of VRSA.
Among other deficiencies, the report points out the obstruction of the buildings' evacuation paths, the lack of safety conditions for all the containers that currently function as classrooms and cafeteria, the deficient operation of emergency lighting and alarm equipment in all buildings, the storage of combustible liquids and gases, the deficient installation and maintenance of fire extinguishers, or the lack of plants and safety signs.
“This belatedly released report recognizes the danger that the local authority and the parents' association have been warning about for a long time and constitutes a victory for the citizens' movement to which the City Council was associated”, stresses Luís Gomes.
Taking into account the lack of conditions indicated by the main national body responsible for Civil Protection, the municipality of VRSA also holds, as of today, Parque Escolar and the Contractor for any accidents that may occur on the school grounds or in the containers that they no longer have basic levels of security.
The report now released results from the urgent inspection requested by the City Council of VRSA, in early January, to the Authority for Working Conditions, Civil Protection, the Ministry of Health and the Ministry of Education, as it understands that the monoblocks that are currently operating as classrooms, reprographics, stationery, canteen and bar are putting students, teachers and staff at risk.
The requalification of the VRSA Secondary School, in operation since 1963, was integrated into the Project for the Modernization of Secondary Schools, promoted by the tutelage and developed by EPE. The contract was budgeted at 12 million euros, with the estimated duration of execution being a period of sixteen months.
The interventions should have been completed by the end of 2011, but the lack of payments to the contractor, the cost reduction processes during the work, as well as the delay in issuing execution orders - by Parque Escolar - caused the delay of the works and work stoppage for almost a year.
In addition to VRSA students, the Secondary School receives secondary school students from the neighboring municipalities of Alcoutim and Castro Marim.
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