It is interesting that the same One Bermuda Alliance that had four education ministers in five years, slashed scholarships and educational opportunities for Bermudians and, on the issue of school mould at TN Tatem, referred to teachers as “mischievous” suddenly has all the answers.

The mould issue is a legacy issue from the OBA administration. Most alarming is that the recommendations from the OBA’s own 2016 report were never fully implemented by the OBA, and that is the cause for the re-emergence of what we have now.

The Progressive Labour Party government, after inheriting this issue, has commissioned renovations and tested the building both in February and in March to ensure the building was being worked on in order to be fit for students and staff.

Imagine where we would be and how much farther along TN Tatem would be if the OBA had made our children and TN Tatem a priority and implemented all the recommendations from the TN Tatem 2016 mould report instead of the minimal effort that was put forth.

While the OBA seeks to exploit this extremely serious issue for political gain, its record demonstrates a complete lack of compassion, interest or vision for Bermudians of all ages — especially our children.

The OBA may disagree with further testing of the environment where our children and teachers work and breathe, but our parents and teachers don’t. This latest round of tests at TN Tatem was at their request.

The OBA may disagree with further testing, but we believe we have a responsibility to take the necessary steps to rectify the specific problems first identified in 2016 and not fixed then.

The PLP believes in investing the necessary resources to ensure our children are educated in safe schools. The PLP will not take lectures on public education from the OBA, which slashed public education, cut scholarships, cut investments and allowed public dollars to be poorly disbursed.

Our children deserve better.

• Michael Weeks is a government backbencher and the MP for Pembroke East (Constituency 16)