Princes Town MP, Barry Padarath is calling on Minister Ayanna Webster-Roy to say whether she has received the work plan to deal with abuse in children’s homes.
In a release on Friday, Padarath said a task force was established six weeks ago to address the recommendations of the retired Justice Judith Jones report into abuse at children’s homes in Trinidad and Tobago.
In a statement to the Parliament on April 29, Webster-Roy said that the task force would have a six-week window to produce a work plan on how to give effect to the recommendations of the Jones report. He said that the six weeks has since passed.
Padarath said there were several recommendations in the Jones report that are low-hanging fruit and he did not understand why the government was dragging their feet to give effect to these recommendations, such as the establishment of a commissioner’s office for children affairs, the proclamation of legislation dealing with a licensing regime for community residences and children’s homes, as well as the establishment of a National Commission on Children.
The Opposition Shadow Minister for Children Affairs questioned why the work of the task force was moving at a snail’s pace against the backdrop of the Trinidad and Tobago Police Service saying that alleged perpetrators of child sexual abuse were still at the homes.
Padarath said that up to Monday’s sitting of the Parliament, Websater-Roy was unable to say how many children have been removed from these homes in an effort to protect them nor could she say how many alleged abusers were removed from the community residences and homes when questioned by the opposition.
