The Human Service and Social Security Ministry has set up a commission of inquiry to probe the operations of a Corentyne orphanage that has been at the centre of a scandal involving three teenage girls. “In light of the recent arrest of the three orphaned teenagers who resided at Camal’s International Home in Corentyne, Berbice and based upon public allegations of maltreatment of orphans residing at the institution, the Ministry of Labour, Human Services and Social Security has appointed a commission of inquiry to investigate the allegations and review the operations of the home in accordance with the minimum operating standards for children’s homes and institutions,” a release said.
Hearings
The commission is chaired by Ayo Dalgetty-Dean and its other members are Saudia Feroze, Erma Bovell, Childcare and Protection Agency Legal Council Joan Ann Edgill and Senior Probation and Social Services Officer Claudia Munroe. Hearings will commence shortly.
The three girls, who were sentenced to four years at the New Opportunity Corps (NOC) on the charge of wandering, have refuted claims of them running away from Camal’s children home.
They said they were being ill-treated at the home and when they refuse to do whatever they are told to do, the caretaker would verbally and physically abuse them and also limit their food.
The girls said they had to go to the home of the caretaker to do her housework when they come home from school. The girls, ages 15, 13 and 11, made an appearance at the New Amsterdam Magistrates Court last Monday, where the sentence was handed down by the magistrate, and to date, they are still at the Albion Police Station awaiting a probation report.
Wrong accusation
According to the girls, they were never found on the road and the police collected them from the home after a call was made about them wanting to commit suicide.
One of the girls told this newspaper: “When I come from school the afternoon before, she start lashing me and asked me why I went to school and I said aunty Shalo son is a waste man, I told her I did not do that, the next day she tell me to weed the grass, I take the cutlass and chop when I ask for some water, she told me to stay right there and weed. I got upset and chopped up the dirt and she told me to continue and when I done go sit in the corner, when it was meals time I was given very little food.”
Verbal abuse
The young lady said when the cursing starts; she would hide in a secluded area of the home. The young lady related that she got tired and fed up of the orphanage and wanted to leave, as the caretaker would accuse her of going to school to “take man”. The teenager said the night when the police came, about eight of the girls were in the secluded area, and they were taken to the police station.
The others were sent home and they were kept back. She thanked the police for taking care of them, noting that they are being treated better than when they were at the orphanage.
