Latest update April 19th, 2024 12:59 AM
Nov 15, 2017 News
-psychological intervention still ongoing
Included in the recommendations that came out of the investigation into the fire at the Drop In Centre in July of last year, which claimed the lives of two children, was that the mother of the deceased children be compensated.
The fire, which occurred around 11:50 pm on July 7 last year, claimed the lives of three-year-old Antonio George and his six-year-old brother Joshua George.
Based on an investigation conducted by the Guyana Fire Service, the fire, which completely destroyed the female dormitory of the Drop In Centre, was electrical in origin, and was wholly responsible for the demise of the children.
The report, which detailed the findings of the investigation, was recently tabled in Parliament. But according to Ms. Ann Greene, Director of the Childcare and Protection Agency [CCPA], which falls under the purview of the Ministry of Social Protection, former Social Protection Minister, Ms. Volda Lawrence, had embraced talks for the mother to be compensated in kind. “The Minister had agreed that we would build a house on a piece of land from [the Ministry of] Housing for the family and furnish it with help from some of our partners,” Greene related.
This move was tactical, since it was the family’s living condition that had caused the CCPA to remove the children from the care of their mother.
The day prior to the fire, the two children, along with three more George siblings [Shaquan, Shania and Anastasia], were admitted to the Drop In Centre. This move was the direct result of an investigation conducted by Social Workers from the Childcare and Protection Agency which determined that the children were at risk. It was revealed that the placement was intended to be temporary, as investigations were ongoing with a view of finding kinship care for the children.
But Greene in an invited comment told this publication that although the compensation discussions had followed after the fire and the subsequent investigation since last year, the move in this direction is not yet completed.
“We had hoped that the house would have been completed so that the mother could have moved into it for Christmas, but it is not yet completed,” Greene related. It was the plan of the Ministry, she disclosed, that even after the project would have been completed, the Ministry had already planned to continue to support the family for another six months.
But since the housing plan is not yet completed, Greene revealed that the remaining George siblings continue to be in care of the State. This is in light of the fact, she said, that the case is still in family court.
However, Greene underscored that while giving compensation in the form of housing was assured by the Ministry, keen attention has also been given to the importance of ensuring that the mother has the capacity to ensure the proper care of the children.
“Housing is just one part. We had prepared a whole programme of the needs of the family and a lot of it is psychological intervention and so on…I am happy to report that she [the mother] has come a long way. Our support is not concluded as yet, the matter is not concluded as yet, too, because it is still in the family court,” Greene said.
Some 31 children were accommodated at the Drop In Centre at the time of the fire.
Since its conflagration, the Ministry was forced to put the majority of the children who were accommodated there, into foster care.
“We were able to reduce the numbers to about 10 and those 10 [children] were absorbed into the Sophia Care Centre and the Halfway House,” Greene said.
But there are plans to have the Centre rebuilt at another location and Greene is optimistic that this project will commence in the new year.
Where is the BETTER MANAGEMENT/RENEGOTIATION OF THE OIL CONTRACTS you promised Jagdeo?
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