The night shelter at the Drop-in Centre for street children located at 83 Hadfield Street, Wortmanville is yet to open its door in the evenings owing to the lack of volunteers to supervise the children, Minister within the Ministry of Labour, Human Services and Social Security, Bibi Shadick said on Thursday at a press conference.

The minister noted that since the opening of the facility on February 1 this year her ministry had been trying to find persons to work at nights. She said that because the shelter's residents are boys, she prefers a male with a disciplined services background to work with them.

According to Shadick, efforts have been made to secure the services of officers of the Guyana Defence Force and the Guyana Police Force but her ministry had not yet received any positive word from either. The vacancies were also published in the newspapers but no one responded.

"It is not a problem with finance, we are willing to pay anyone who meets the requirements for their services, but no one has come forward so far, we have not been getting any response."

The minister said she is anxious for the centre to be put into operation and called on citizens who have the requisite skills to apply.

The centre was set up to cope with the growing phenomenon of urban street children which has been evident since the 1980s. It aims to offer reform opportunities to the children while providing baths, meals, clothing and shelter to meet their day-to-day needs. The setting up of the shelter was a collaborative effort by the ministry and the United Nations Children's Fund (UNICEF).

Meanwhile, referring to the night shelter for the destitute located behind the East La Penitence Police Station, Shadick said that she was aware of a feature in this newspaper where some of the homeless at the shelter had complained that they were made to sleep on mattresses without sheets. Shadick explained that her ministry was only providing a shelter for the persons who are expected to leave in the morning and go to work. She said the ministry is doing its part in providing the shelter but the folks would have to provide their own bed sheets. She pointed out that sometimes persons donate bed sheets and other items to the shelter for the benefit of its users.

During a visit to that shelter, this newspaper had observed some of the destitute spreading their clothes on the mattresses because there were no sheets while others were using plastic bottles for pillows.

Shadick disclosed that the Genesis Home for battered women is yet to be acquired by her ministry. It had been run as a non government organisation for two years but then funding dried up and the government agreed to take it over. Shadick said that the process is a very tedious one and declined to indicate a deadline for the acquisition of the home. The home had closed its doors in June of 2001 and the takeover was expected to be completed quickly. Nine months later it is still to be done.

Shadick told the media that a National Task Force on Street Children was appointed by Cabinet and it had been meeting monthly since. It has made several recommendations and action on these has already started.

Shadick said that it was discovered that in addition to the street children there were many others who did not go to school principally because they had no birth certificates and were not being admitted into schools.

Further, she mentioned that simultaneous with the work of the Task Force, there was an ongoing anti-truancy campaign carried out by the Schools Welfare Division headed by Yvonne Arthur who was also a member of the Task Force, in collaboration with the police and the Probation and Family Welfare Department of her ministry. She said that the findings of the anti-truancy campaign formed a significant part of the basis of the recommendations of the Task Force.

Shadick explained that based upon the recommendations the Ministry of Education sent out circulars to all school heads instructing them to admit children without a birth certificate and then inform the district schools welfare officer who is tasked with filling out an application form for the child's birth certificate. The applications would then be sent to the General Registrar's office by the Ministry of Health by arrangement and certificates are issued within two or so weeks.

If it is found that there was no entry for the child's birth certificate at the General Registrar's office, the Probation and Family Welfare Department would facilitate late registration using an affidavit which was drafted for that purpose and can only be accessed at her ministry's head office, Shadick said.

In addition, the minister disclosed that a recommendation had also been made and Cabinet had already agreed that funding will be made available for school feeding programmes as well as for the provision of school uniforms.

"All of this, however, which is being done to try to keep children off the streets and from a life of crime is being severely undermined by the fact that in some sections of the Guyanese society today criminals are glorified by some sections of the media and revered by some presidential `wannabees'", Shadick noted.

"Indeed why should a child attend classes at the drop-in-centre and learn how to live a productive life and stay on the right side of the law when known criminals are dubbed heroes and have Guyana's flag draped on their coffins when they die," she remarked, an apparent reference to the ceremony for notorious bandit Linden London.

"It is my dream that one day the defenders of the rights of criminals will wake up to the fact that their utterances are severely negatively impacting on the lives of our young people and that they are therefore creating a monster which they themselves will not be able to control."

With regards to the budget allocations to her ministry, Shadick disclosed that the amount given this year was about twice what the ministry received last year although the total for capital expenditure is significantly less than the sum requested.

Speaking about the Women and Gender Affairs Bureau, she said this department is working together with the Guyana Women's Leadership Institute and the Gender Resource and Documentation Department and has already embarked on holding workshops and seminars for women across the country. These programmes cater for areas such as leadership, capacity building and management of micro-enterprises. (Nigel Williams)