THE preliminary report of the Commission of Inquiry (CoI) established to probe the circumstances surrounding the fire at the Hadfield Street Drop-in Centre — which resulted in the deaths of two young children — was handed over to Minister of State, Joseph Harmon, on Friday.The report, compiled and handed over by the lone Commissioner, Retired Colonel Windee Algernon, will be passed on to President David Granger for review. Algernon was tasked with completing the preliminary report by Friday, in accordance with the Terms of Reference (ToR).

The final report, to be handed over to Government on August 15, will be assessed by Cabinet. The preliminary report comes one day after President David Granger announced on the Ministry of the Presidency’s ‘Public Interest’ television programme that if any person is found culpable of gross negligence or dereliction of duties, that person will be held accountable.

“If any persons are culpable of gross negligence or dereliction of duties, yes we will make a judgment as to whether they are fit to hold those positions; and if you equate that with rolling of heads, then yes, but the aim is to prevent a recurrence. We need to find out what happened and prevent a recurrence. In investigating what occurred, if we find that there was gross dereliction of duties, yes, persons who omitted to commit acts which would have prevented that catastrophe will be punished, and if the punishment proposed is that they be removed from their positions, so be it,” President Granger told journalists on the programme.

Six-year-old Antonio George and two-year-old Joshua George perished in that July 8, 2016 fire after they became trapped in a section of the building. The Drop-in Centre, which was under management of the Child Care and Protection Agency at the time of the tragedy, had housed 28 children and two adults. (Ministry of the Presidency)