WITH the return of the mother and father of the five children who were left unattended at their home at Patentia, West Bank Demerara, the Ministry of Human Services has taken steps to offer probationary services to the children and their parents.
According to Minister Bibi Shadick, the Ministry through its Probation and Family Welfare Department will offer both material and probationary assistance to the children. Minister Shadick said that an officer visited the home Monday and aided the children with food items and clothing.
She added that the items were not enough but the parents are expected to meet with officials from the Ministry today to determine additional assistance the family might need. She disclosed that the Ministry of Home Affairs has stepped in to assist with birth certificates so that the children may start attending school. Immediately after learning of the children’s situation, the Ministry of Labour, Human Services and Social Security took steps to assess the children’s plight and to enhance their general welfare. The five children Suresh, Anand, Ravendra, Rajesh and Remano Ramdeen, were left alone by parents who reportedly had gone to Linden to seek employment. They were forced to hunt for their own food and occupy a zinc and wooden hut. The hut is located on a dam near a koker, which allowed the children to catch fish to complement their dinner. The Ministry of Human Services, after an examination of the situation, has decided that even with the parents return, the children are still in desperate need of assistance. According to the eldest child, he was burdened with the task of cooking and cleaning for his siblings and has since been unable to attend school. The children’s parents had left to look for work in Linden. However, the mother returned later but only to collect the smallest of the five children.
The four smaller children, hardly attended school, and concentrated mostly on figuring out what they would eat.