Youth Minister admits to recent NOC breakout

…urges parents to make police report

Minister of Culture Youth and Sport, Dr. Frank Anthony, has said that he now has information that a number of teenagers have indeed escaped from the New Opportunity Corps in Essequibo, Region Two.
Dr. Anthony was at the time responding to an online news article, which reported on some troubling allegations made by a couple.
They claimed that their 15-year-old daughter had told them that she was being sexually harassed by male staffers and older male inmates at the institution.

Minister of Culture Youth and Sport, Dr. Frank Anthony

When contacted on Tuesday evening, the Minister maintained that he was not aware of any recent breakout at NOC. “The last one we had was in 2012,” Dr. Anthony had said.
He however, told Kaieteur News yesterday, that enquiries revealed that the last escape attempt at NOC occurred on March 22, 2014.
According to the Minister, he understands that “a female student started to use indecent language, loud and aggressively in the female dormitory, after which, she and three other female students ran out of the perimeter fence.”
Dr. Anthony said that the inmates were able to get away easily because of how the place is situated. He noted that although it is a juvenile correctional facility, NOC does not look like one and that the inmates are not treated as prisoners.
From March 22 to March 24, a total of 11 inmates, comprising of seven boys and four girls, managed to escape from NOC. The absconded students, Dr. Anthony said, were later located at a camp site in the backlands.
The female students were taken to the Medical Centre where they were examined and were referred to the Suddie Public Hospital. All eleven students were then taken to the Suddie Police Station. The matter is engaging the Suddie Magistrate’s Court, the Minister said.
He told Kaieteur News that at present, three males are in custody, while four male students and four female students are at the Juvenile Holding Centre in Sophia, Greater Georgetown awaiting the decision of the courts.
The Minister noted that no reports were made, nor was evidence provided to show that NOC staff members were sexually abusing the young inmates. He also refuted allegations that male students were sent to assist in bringing back the female absconders.
Asked about an investigation, Dr. Anthony announced that he is calling on parents and inmates of the NOC to report such acts to both the police and Ministry of Culture Youth and Sport. He said that so far, no official report has been made to his Ministry.
“I don’t understand this. If these parents are serious about fixing what they think is a legitimate problem, then why aren’t they doing what they have to…If there is any case of wrongdoing…if a child can come forward and say this person has done them wrong, like a staff of the institution, then we want to know that because we do not want such persons on our staff,” Minister Anthony said.
Last November, authorities launched a probe into circumstances that led to at least three female inmates of the New Opportunity Corps becoming pregnant.
Prior to this, a number of youngsters, aged between 14 and 16, went on a violent rampage to escape from the NOC, claiming that they were being ill-treated by staff members. The teenagers stormed through several communities, armed with cutlasses and other weapons.
A female dormitory and a workshop within the compound were set alight. Some 17 young ladies who were housed in that dorm had to be relocated.
Subsequent to the rampage, some of the inmates claimed that they had reached a breaking point, after being abused for months.
A senior Ministry of Culture official had however, stated that none of the juveniles made any such allegations to a team, which had visited the centre prior to the escape.
After receiving a number of conflicting statements, a Commission of Inquiry (COI) was set up to investigate the circumstances surrounding the escape. It has been almost a year, and the results have not yet been revealed.
Meanwhile, A Partnership for National Unity (APNU)’s Christopher Jones told this newspaper that he is concerned over the revelations. He does not understand why the Minister has not yet launched an investigation into the matter, he said.
“For reasons best known to the Minister, he is not putting his foot down,” Jones said.
His sentiments were echoed by his colleague, Trevor Williams, who believes that the “sickening” revelations are made worst by Government’s non-committal to an investigation.
“We need to get to the bottom of this matter now; discipline those who are culpable and take immediate steps to implement serious reform. Allegations of rape and abuse to teenage girls in a state-run institution must be met with stern action and penalties.”
He added, “This situation is ripe for a Commission of Inquiry, which must be tasked with making recommendations in keeping with modern day legislation and practices to reform and protect our youth,” Williams added.
He added, “It might be time for us to have separate institutions for males and females separated by geographic space enough to eliminate contact.”