THE EDITOR, Sir:

We had promised the grade seven students at Clarendon College that they would have adequate desks and chairs for the start of the school term.

Consequently, we made an order in the middle of August for 250 combination desks and chairs. The supplier promised faithfully that these would have been delivered by the start of the term, September 3. We have been following up with him since that time by way of visits to his place of production and by phone calls.

Two weeks ago, the supplier took the unassembled desks and chairs to the school with a promise to return two days after to have these completed on a weekend.

excuses

The supplier then promised that he would be here on Wednesday, October 24 - which unfortunately was the week Jamaica was affected by Hurricane Sandy. Since then, he has given us excuses that some of his workers are in storm-hit Portland and that he did not have electricity at his plant on Windward Road.

Out of frustration, I left a message to say I was going to have the desks fitted up so that the students could have them and pay to another contractor from the amount we owed the original contractor. This message was left on Monday.

Having heard that, he has promised to be here on Wednesday, October 31, with a view to finishing the job by Monday, November 5.

In all of this, I have been keeping the students and teachers informed at devotions and in year-group meetings. I wish to sincerely apologise to the first-formers and their parents for any discomfort they have experienced over this period.

DAVID O. WILSON

Principal, Clarendon College