The mother of a teen at the Government Industrial School (GIS) and authorities look to be on a collision course over claims that the child is being “tortured” there.
Newly appointed GIS chairman Reverend Ezra Parris and Minister of Home Affairs Gregory Nicholls denied knowledge of the turmoil described by the 38-year-old mother, who has been appealing for her daughter to be released.
The mother detailed a series of allegations regarding her daughter’s treatment since her arrival at the school last September for a threeyear confinement. She claims the girl had been punished by being placed in a cell, was being administered birth control injections, and had been frequently sent to the Psychiatric Hospital, a situation she says has left her daughter “looking like a zombie”.
Self-harming
“When I call up there to speak to my daughter, she does be crying and telling me, ‘Mummy I can’t tell you anything because they would put me in the cell’”.
The mother reported that she had received three terrifying calls within the past two weeks from staff saying they had interrupted her daughter from self-harming.
She decided to go public after receiving a call yesterday morning advising her that her daughter had attempted to harm herself again following an altercation with a group of girls.
“This thing got me real disturbed. They are supposed to be helping my daughter. I cannot sleep at night because all the time my daughter calling me crying. I would like my daughter to come home where I can look after she,” the mother said.
When contacted by the Nation, Minister Nicholls said: “There are serious legal ramifications here and I am not aware of these specific issues you have raised.”
The woman’s allegations mirror complaints that have plagued the institution in the past, leading to an enquiry in 2022 and a report on the institution.
While she said management assured her the implicated staff member had been transferred and the other girls counselled, she claimed “all hell had broken loose” recently.
The mother claims her daughter has been subjected to increasingly hostile treatment since a staff member allegedly verbally abused the teenager and was transferred.
She said other wards had since turned against her daughter, leaving the teenager fearful. She also expressed concern that the child could eventually be transferred to the adult Dodds Prison.
However, Parris said he was not aware of any staff member being transferred.
Parris, who took over as chairman in April, said he had been alerted to the mother’s concerns but had received no further reports after an initial conversation with the principal.
General operation
He recalled a conversation with the principal, who was overseas, on August 15, about the mother’s intention to approach the media.
“She told me of this parent who was threatening to call the Nation and informed me about the situation . . . that the mother was of the view that the daughter was being harassed,” Parris said.
He said he was asked to intervene but was unable to reach the parent. He added that he did not receive further reports on the matter after the initial conversation.
Addressing the general operation of the reform school, Parris acknowledged that a boy and a girl had absconded and remain at large. However, he argued that these incidents “do not necessarily indicate the institution is failing”.
“There are other cases – I won’t necessarily list that to you – which are serious. And the resident, or those who are called a resident, would have been charged and what’s not. So matters are being handled,” Parris said, emphasising that staff were doing their best.
Parris reported there are ten males and 13 females at the institution. He admitted that tension between the two groups was a challenge, noting incidents of them “cursing each other”.
He explained that when the girls’ school at Barrows, St Lucy, was closed down, a section of the boys’ facility was fenced off to accommodate them, resulting in confined space for the male students. Parris stressed the need for a separate facility for girls, stating that while a design for a new girls’ facility at Dodds exists, progress has been slow.
Meanwhile, a source close to the institution suggested that little had changed since the 2022 enquiry led by retired police officer Oral Williams. The source noted that following the relocation of the girls’ section, staff are now required to sign secrecy forms. The source expressed concern that no real progress was being made to rehabilitate the children institutionalised there. (MB)