…outlines series of other measures
SOCIAL Protection Minister Volda Lawrence on Thursday announced that the government will provide a plot of land and a “fully furnished two-bedroom house” to the George family whose two sons Joshua, 6 and Antonio, 2 died in the July fire, which destroyed the Drop-in Centre on Hadfield Street, Georgetown.“This is not a compensation (for the death of Joshua and Antonio George). We cannot measure the lives of two children by a piece of land and a fully-furnished house,” Lawrence said during Thursday’s meeting with the parents of the deceased children and senior ministry officers at her Lamaha and East Streets office.
According to the ministry, the Drop-in Centre fire began “on the western section of the upper flat and as the fire engulfed the building. Antonio George and Joshua George were trapped in the lower flat and their bodies were later found among the debris,” according to a Guyana Police Force statement then.
President David Granger ordered an investigation into the deadly fire and Colonel Windee Algernon of the Guyana Defence Force (GDF), a female, spearheaded the inquiry. Algernon’s Commission of Inquiry (COI) final report was submitted on schedule mid-August. The findings and the recommendations of her COI report was given to the children’s mother, Sonia, in the presence of Social Protection Ministry officials.
Meanwhile, according to the ministry, Lawrence acknowledged the increased hardship faced by the George family since the night of the deadly July 7 fire, which claimed their children’s lives. To help minimise their pain, the minister Thursday unveiled a long-term plan by the Social Protection Ministry to help improve the skills of the parents; reunite their surviving children with them; help improve the economic standing of that family, and ensure the children are properly integrated in their new schools.
On the latter, Shaquan George will attend North Georgetown Secondary School on transfer from Christ Church Secondary which he secured following the results of the 2016 National Grade Six Assessment (NGSA) tests, while his sister Shania, will be transferred from St Agnes Primary to Stella Maris Primary by request of their mother, Sonia. This was confirmed by MOSP Ministerial Advisor Mr John Adams following Thursday’s meeting.
The ministry will also provide all necessary paraphernalia the school-aged children need to begin classes during the new school year which begins Monday. Lawrence explained that her ministry’s support for the family will continue until the George parents can “take psychosocial and economic control” of their family.
Under the menu of measures detailed by Lawrence, Permanent Secretary (PS), Ms. Lorene Baird; Director of the Childcare and Protection Agency (CPA), Ms Ann Greene and Director of Social Services (DSS), Mr. Whentworth Tanner, a Social Worker, not attached to the Social Protection Ministry, will be identified to provide the necessary professional help the family will need.
CPA’s Greene will prepare a programme designed to provide critically-needed counselling for the parents and specific strategies to help reintegrate the other siblings, currently in CPA care, with their family, the ministry said. “The Ministry wants to ensure that the issues which prompted the CPA to remove all the George children from their Chapel Street, Lodge home are satisfactorily resolved before undertaking the reintegration process. Counselling is badly needed for the parents,” Ms Greene emphasised.
Meanwhile, Sonia George, the children’s mother, asked Minister Lawrence and her team for a week to respond to the government’s offer. This is expected to be made known next week when the two sides will meet at Lawrence’s office. If she accepts the offer, the MOSP will ensure they are in the new environment “before Christmas” Lawrence said.
