Officers from the Child Care & Protection Agency (CCPA) in Region Five are trying to locate the relatives of a 23-year-old woman who has been deemed unfit to care for her three-month-old baby.
The woman, Abiola Yakene France who said she is from Sophia, Georgetown had taken the baby to the Fort Wellington Hospital (FWH) last Friday to be treated for a severe rash about the body.
She subsequently visited the probation department to meet someone and during her conversation she related that a relative of the baby boy “bathed him with trench water…”
Based on further questioning from the officers they decided to take her and the baby into their care.
They were kept at the FWH until Monday night and on Tuesday the CCPA officer placed the baby into the care of a resident.
A doctor at the hospital had also ordered that the woman be given a psychological evaluation to determine whether she could care for her baby.
However, the officers came in for heavy criticisms from persons, including A Partnership for National Unity (APNU) councillor, Carol Joseph because they had not followed the doctor’s instruction.
Joseph lamented that the process in which the baby was taken away was wrong especially since the woman was not given a place to stay.
France said the woman had left to collect some of her belongings from a house where she had dropped them off and when she returned the baby was gone.
Persons told this newspaper that they were moved to tears when they heard the woman bawling for her baby.
With no place to stay, the woman rested her bags below the regional office and kept walking the road “up and down” in search of the baby.
She told this newspaper that she heard a baby crying and followed the sound to see if it was hers. She also banged on the hospital door at 1:30 am to inquire if her baby was there.
A CCPA officer told this newspaper that they were not aware that woman was walking on the road because she left with an “understanding” to go to Eccles to bring an aunt.
The officers also told her that the baby would be returned to her if she proved that she had a responsible relative to assist her to take care of the baby.
She remained at the hospital last night and the officers are hoping that a relative would come forward.
They said the woman provided them with the name of the baby’s grandmother who is a vendor at the Skeldon market and they made efforts to locate her but were unsuccessful.
