Full departmental inquiry into operations at the GIS

A  panel has been appointed to conduct a full departmental inquiry into operations at the Government Industrial School (GIS), Minister of Home Affairs and Information, Wilfred Abrahams announced Saturday.

The GIS Departmental Inquiry panel includes former Deputy Police Commissioner Oral Williams (Chair), educator Tessa Chadderton-Shaw and former Principal of Queen’s College Coreen Kennedy-Taitt, with the investigation slated to run for six weeks.

“I’ve decided to have a departmental inquiry into the operations at the Government Industrial Schools. A full departmental inquiry to address all of the issues that we know are on the table, to address the policies and practices at school, to address things like the curriculum, to address extracurricular activities, to address mentorship, to address all of the things that touch and concern these young ladies,” he said.

“This is not one of those investigations that go into perpetuity, there is a fixed time for dealing with this. This has to be given the priority and all of the resources that Government can put at this point in time to get to the bottom, in particular of the most recent allegations.”

Addressing the recent public outcry surrounding the incident where two teenage girls escaped from the St. Lucy reform school, Abrahams said that though much of the information circulating throughout the media and social spaces have not been accurate, the overall state at the facilities was a troubling one.

“The recent situation concerning the absconding of the young ladies from Barrows in St. Lucy has thrown up a lot of issues that bear immediate investigation and attention. Our initial investigation, surface investigations, into what informed or what may have caused the young ladies to take the approach that they took and even certain policies and procedures at the school have yielded some serious concerns for us that we cannot possibly ignore,” he said.

Abrahams also revealed that a secondary inquiry will also be conducted into the operations at the Dodd’s Prison, with Philip Pilgrim, Q.C., chairing the committee that will include former Youth Commissioner Dr. Lisa Jaggernauth and Senior Lecturer at UWI Cave Hill Dr. Akhentoolove Corbin.

Members of the public who currently have insight and information concerning operations at the facilities are being asked to share all relevant information with the committee. A telephone number and email address will be set up shortly for citizens to use.

In voicing his concern on the current GIS situation, Minister of People Empowerment and Elder Affairs, Kirk Humphrey said that though legislation is currently in the works to address a number of areas in the coming months, including child justice and laws governing the family, an immediate intervention was needed, given the outdated nature of procedures still seen in the youth facilities.

“In my opinion there is only one priority… the single priority is the wellbeing of the children that are involved in this situation. The question that I think that we have to ask and answer is what is in the best interest of these children,” he said.

“When we ask that question it will force us to look at the policies, the programmes, the legislation, the system, to take a step back and look at the overall procedures because at the end of the day we must do what we have to do to say that we have done all that we can do to be able to protect the children.” (SB)