Retired Colonel Windee Algernon was yesterday sworn in to conduct the Commission of Inquiry (CoI) into the operations of the Drop-In Centre, at Hadfield Street, where two young brothers died last week.
Among the tasks of the former Guyana Defence Force officer, as disclosed by Minister of State Joseph Harmon yesterday, will be to determine whether the family of the children who perished in the blaze will be compensated.
Algernon declined to give a comment following her swearing-in before Magistrate Fabayo Azore at the Georgetown Magistrate’s Court Five, saying she would be more inclined to do so after being properly briefed.
However, Harmon told reporters that the way forward would be determined by the outcome of the inquiry, the preliminary results of which are to be presented by July 22. Algernon has until August 15, to submit a final report.
“We will ask the commissioner to make recommendations in that regard, because you know, anytime a life in Guyana is lost, it is something that would have to be inquired into. … we place a very high premium on the life of every Guyanese… The commission will determine what needs to be done. It’s basically about two weeks or so… we can wait on that… I believe that the families would have been contacted by the Ministry of Social Protection and would have been given some level of comfort, but, insofar as compensation is concerned, we will await the findings of the commission,” he said.
The terms of reference of the CoI are to investigate, examine and report on:
- The causes, conditions and surrounding circumstance that led to the deaths of Antonio George and Joshua George on July 8, 2016, whilst in the care, control and custody of the state.
- The nature of injuries sustained by all children who were in the care and custody of the state at the Drop-In Centre on Hadfield Street, Georgetown, on that day and to assess the dangers to which the children and staff were exposed at the time of the incident.
- Whether the conduct of the staff at the Drop-In Centre who were on duty on that day was in conformity with the required statutory obligation of the state and standard operating procedures.
- Blameworthiness of individuals.
- Whether there was a failure on the part of state officials to deal appropriately or adequately with matters that gave rise to the loss of lives and whether there were any unsafe or improper arrangements for the care, custody and welfare of the children.
Antonio George, 6 and Joshua George, 3, died after being trapped in the fire. They had been taken into the state’s care on July 6. The brothers, along with three other siblings, were rescued by the Child Care and Protection Agency of the Ministry of Social Protection after reports were received that they children were being abused and neglected.
There were 29 other children at the Drop-In Centre on the night of the fire, under the supervision of just two staff members.
