By Ravin Singh
PRESIDENT David Granger has warned that anyone found guilty of negligence, resulting in the Drop-in Centre fire that claimed the lives of two children will be sanctioned appropriately.
The Head of State’s announcement was made on Thursday, during his weekly television programme “The Public Interest.” Soon after the July 8 tragedy, the president ordered a Commission of Inquiry into the incident that claimed the lives of two brothers, aged three and six, who were in the care of the State at the time of their demise.
The President a week ago had said that the inquiries being conducted by Government are to assist in the process of solving problems.
But on Thursday, he said he is prepared to take strong disciplinary action should the inquiry into the deaths at the Drop-in-Centre points to gross negligence.
“Naturally, if any persons are culpable of gross negligence or dereliction of duty, yes, we will make a judgment on whether they’re fit to hold those positions. If you equate that with the rolling of heads then yes, but as I said the aim is to find out what happened to prevent a re-occurrence,” he said.
The President is expecting a full report on the tragedy by the end of this month. Since the deadly fire, the Government has taken full responsibility and has funded the funeral of the two boys who perished.
The centre falls under the control of the Social Protection Ministry, which is headed by subject Minister Volda Lawrence.
Following the incident, there have been renewed calls for the minister to relinquish responsibilities for that office.
Earlier in the year, calls also were made for the minister to be removed following comments she had made which some interpreted as a defence for an accused child molester who was charged multiple times.
The recent fire has further aggravated the situation and fuelled renewed calls for her resignation or dismissal. An online petition has also been launched in this regard.
Asked whether he was inclined to consider these calls, given the fact that he has already made several changes to his Cabinet, the President said while he is aware of the calls, there is no “tsunami of protests” in favour of the minister’s removal.
President Granger reasoned that in the first instance when calls were made for her removal from office, the matter was thoroughly discussed, even prior to elections, and the person who had been nominated was elected – a decision which he said was supported by civil society.
In the case of the fire, President Granger questioned the number of people who have made statements in support of the minister’s removal.
“How many people are there? Eight? Nine? We don’t know. Sometimes you see these petitions but they do not represent a substantial body of public opinion. So we need to verify how many people,” he said.
The President did not state however what number constitutes a “substantial” amount to effect a re-examination of Lawrence’s presence at the ministry, but noted that he has not found any reason to remove the minister from her position.
“I think she’s doing her best and there has been an improvement in the delivery of social protection services to the public. Every week, I receive petitions and requests and complaints and she has been very punctilious in responding to those complaints, visiting persons and delivering services to those people,” the President said.
He noted too that some of the people who are complaining are not aware of the “tremendous work” the Ministry of Social Protection is “burdened with” and is actually doing.
As such, he reasoned that people should not feel that the ministry is dysfunctional or that the minister herself deserves to be removed.
