Inmate testimony awaited before GIS enquiry concludes

At least one more witness is to be interviewed before the full departmental enquiry into operations at the Government Industrial School (GIS) is completed.

Minister of Home Affairs Wilfred Abrahams said that while the panel appointed to conduct the probe should have completed the enquiry a few weeks ago, the absconding of several females from the Barrows St Lucy location delayed the process.

“As everybody knows, two of the young ladies had absconded. They were not available to participate in the enquiry. They were not available to put their case. As everybody knows, their supposed experiences were very high-profiled and sparked a lot of public comment and were dominant in the public domain.

“We could not possibly conclude the enquiry without having given those young ladies a chance to put their evidence and to have that evidence tested, investigated and form part of the findings of the enquiry. Had the panel even sought to terminate this enquiry without having spoken to those two young ladies we would be hearing about ourselves.

“So the enquiry literally could not be completed until such time as we were in a position to give them every possible chance to give their evidence. If they choose not to do it they choose not to do it,” Abrahams told members of the media today during a tour of the renovation project at the GIS Dodd’s St Philip location.

The departmental enquiry into the operations of the GIS is expected to address the issues that are currently affecting the institution. It will also examine the policies and practices at the school, the curriculum and extracurricular activities.

On April 30, following a public outcry surrounding the escape of two teenaged girls from the St Lucy reform school, Minister Abrahams announced that there was need for the immediate investigation into the operations at the facilities and warned that much of the information circulating on social media was not accurate. He encouraged members of the public to share concerns or lodge complaints with the enquiry.

The minister revealed that to date, the panel, chaired by former Deputy Police Commissioner Oral Williams, has interviewed over 90 witnesses including past and current wards and had already started to pull the evidence together to compile its report.

He noted the panel will however give one ward the opportunity to give her evidence.

“Once her evidence is in, obviously if she says something that is not part of the evidence already, then a question is going to have to be asked in relation to that. That is going to involve bringing back witnesses to specifically question them on something she said or didn’t say, or any inconsistencies on what the record is at this time.

“I can tell you that I am comfortable that the committee has been working hard. They have not been wasting time, they have been fully out to all, interviewing witnesses, correlating the evidence,” he said.