Levy cess on Manning’s School past students for main building’s restoration – Patterson

WESTERN BUREAU:

Former Prime Minister PJ Patterson recommended that a cess, or tax, should be imposed on past students of the Westmoreland-based Manning’s School for them to support the restoration of the school’s Thomas Manning Building.

“Manning’s School is still in its prime, and indeed, it is top-ranking. You should find the past students, hunt them down, and impose a cess on them for this restoration programme,” Patterson said in a video-recorded address during the launch of a fundraiser last Thursday, held at the school and via online platform.

“I am confident that the restoration committee chosen by the alumni association has distinguished persons who will be persistent to marshal funds from past students, especially those still at home in Jamaica and those who are living abroad in the United States, Canada and the United Kingdom,” added Patterson, who served as the member of parliament for the Westmoreland Eastern constituency from 1993 to 2006.

ACADEMIC EXCELLENCE

Patterson pointed to the school’s history of academic excellence as a reason for past students to aid the fundraiser, which seeks to raise $100 million for the restoration work. The school received $35 million and several financial pledges for the work during Thursday’s launch.

“Manning’s School has produced some of the most outstanding personalities in Westmoreland, and well beyond this parish to Jamaica and the wider world. There is no field of national endeavour in which your graduates have failed to perform with distinction, in the spheres of public business, education, law, medicine, engineering, politics, sports, and culture,” he said.

OWE IT TO THE INSTITUTION

“It is imperative that all those of us who have benefited so much, [along] with the wider elements in this parish and its environs, should be generous donors to the restoration fund. There can be no argument that we owe it to this noble institution, to restore its main building to its pristine glory,” the former prime minister added.

Businessman and past student Victor Lowe, who donated $10 million to the fundraiser, urged past students to give back to their alma mater.

“I use this opportunity to challenge all of us who have had the privilege of tracking the hallowed halls of this great school, to honour and uphold the legacy of Manning’s School. Past students, parents of students, and stakeholders, be dutiful about giving back in recognition of the priceless experiences and opportunities from which you have benefited,” said Lowe.

The Manning’s School, founded in 1738, and the Thomas Manning Building are both named after Westmoreland plantation owner Thomas Manning, who bequeathed nine acres of land, which is one mile away from the parish capital Savanna-la-Mar, to build the school.

Thomas Manning Building was erected in 1915 and declared a national heritage site in 1999, housed the school’s library and resource rooms. However, it fell into disrepair over time and was declared unsafe for use in late 2019.

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