The departmental inquiry into the Government Industrial School (GIS) has lasted past the six-week period because one of the female wards has not yet been interviewed.
Giving an update on the status of the investigation, Minister of Home Affairs Wilfred Abrahams said yesterday the child was one of two girls who had absconded from the institution and the panel would have to give her an opportunity to be interviewed now that she had returned.
“The inquiry was supposed to have concluded a couple weeks ago but, as you know, two of the young ladies had absconded. Their supposed experiences were very high-profile and sparked a lot of comment and was dominant in the public domain. We could not possibly conclude the inquiry without having given those young ladies a chance to put their evidence and to have that evidence tested, investigated and to form part of the inquiry,” he told the media.
“Had the panel even sought to terminate this inquiry without having spoken to those two young ladies, we would have been hearing about ourselves . . . .”
To date, 90 witnesses, including all of the existing wards, have been interviewed. (MB)
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