New direction for GIS

Minister of Home Affairs, Information and Public Affairs, Wilfred Abrahams says the recent incident at the Government Industrial School (GIS) was a consequence of several years of flawed practices, and the absence of meaningful protocols, all of which must be addressed and brought under control as a matter of urgency.

He gave this assurance while providing an update into the investigation of shocking images which surfaced last week of a 14-year-old girl lying naked in solitary confinement on a cement floor at the Barrow’s, St. Lucy facility.

He reported that the circumstances that led to her being placed in isolation without critical pieces of clothing was considered “consistent with normal practices”.

However, acting on the advice of independent professionals and agencies such as UNICEF, Minister Abrahams said that GIS has been informed that such practices will be discontinued.

“I have given instructions that the age-old practice of children being detained in isolation under circumstances which are less than acceptable is archaic and unwarranted in this day, and must cease immediately,” he insisted.

“Child detention must be seen as a last resort; UN Conventions are clear on this matter.”

Minister Abrahams said he has full confidence in the current staff complement at GIS, and believes that they act and have acted in the past, on the advice given and the protocols and practices as followed and encouraged by the powers that be at the policy level.

“It is now my responsibility to move with dispatch to garner new public confidence in the direction of the administration of the Government Industrial School,” he stressed, announcing that a new Board of Management will take charge.

This new Board will comprise of: Chair, Rev. Dr. Lucille Baird; Deputy – Chair, Dr. Carl Ward; Stephanie Chase; Rev. Lennox Boyce; Cheryl Moore; and Kwame Bradshaw; the Superintendent of Prisons or his nominee and a sitting magistrate. Also, the Board will call on the expertise of UNICEF Children's Champion, Faith Marshall-Harris, and Dr. Adrian Cummins as Legal Advisor.

“There will always be a need for a secure facility to cater to children with challenges, but I believe that everyone is on the same page, that though necessary, such a facility should be geared towards providing children with all the emotional, psychological, academic and reactional resources to enable the time spent to be productive and to the overall betterment of the students,” he expressed, also revealing that the Ministry of Education has pledged its support to work with the Board and its advisors to tailor the curriculum and to make it relevant to this generation of children.

“With the new thinking that will be reflected in both the Child Protection Legislation as well as the Child Justice Bill, the new Board is charged to develop policies and programmes that reflect the philosophy that our children have rights and are a resource to be nurtured.

“To this end, I will be meeting with the new Board of GIS next week to impress upon them the need to work with UNICEF in reformatting and relooking the emphasis and priorities of that institution. I have personally not ruled out a name change or even a de-emphasising of the institutional care” he said, adding that these are among recommendations he would like to see emanating from the new Board.

The Home Affairs Minister further disclosed that in the last 48 hours he had spoken to most of the persons involved in this unfortunate saga, “And we all agreed that we should move to put this incident behind us and move forward with a common sense of progressive purpose in the furtherance of the welfare and wellbeing of our children.

“This was a most unfortunate incident and one where I personally called the parent and grandparent of the child involved to apologise for and on behalf of the institution, the government and people of Barbados,” he added.