MINISTER of Youth Development and National Service Foster Cummings is seeking to assure the public that there will not be a repeat of abuse at the St Michael’s Home for Boys when it is re-opened by year’s end.
The home, which was managed by the Anglican Church, was closed in 2018 after 129 years. The closure came amidst reports of abuse, both physical and sexual, against the boys there.
Responding to media questions at the Diego Martin facility on March 21 at the start of refurbishment works, Cummings said: “This facility will fall under the national service programme and will be run in conjunction with Military-Led Academic Training (MILAT). With that in mind, we don’t expect to have any such occurrences and all the systems will be put in place to ensure that.”
Cummings said Cabinet approved the establishment of the Youth Development Agency for TT which will have authority over all the youth facilities under his ministry.
The refurbishment is expected to be completed by the end of the year with the contractor SRI Construction Ltd given eight months to complete. The cost of the project is over $10 million excluding consultancy fees. Last year it was estimated to cost under $6 million to refurbish.
Chief executive officer at the National Maintenance Training and Security Company Ltd (MTS) Lennox Rattansingh said the refurbishment will include electrical upgrades, painting, purchasing furniture, general works, installation of air-conditioning and an upgrade of the waste water treatment plant.
This facility will be the first of three to get a facelift in the first half of the year. The other two are Chatham Youth Camp and Persto Preasto Youth Camp. Both camps were closed and the participants sent back home in 2018.
Rattansingh said it will cost approximately $23 million each, excluding consultancy fees, to refurbish the facilities and that is expected to begin by the end of April.
Cummings said his ministry is approaching these projects “in a very systematic and organised way.”
He added that the flagship Youth Development and Apprentice Centre will be built in Wallerfield with two more in Tobago and Chaguaramas. The Chaguaramas Convention Centre will be re-purposed to become a youth development centre. Cummings also plans to discuss with the Tobago House of Assembly the idea of establishing a youth centre there. No estimated cost was given for these projects as they are still in the planning stages, along with the refurbishment of the El Dorado Girls Youth Camp, which the Government shut down in 2011, and Mausica Youth Camp.
“When we took up this assignment we understood that we needed to create safe spaces for our young people who are in need of supervision. We intend to be the leading light in TT and the Caribbean in terms of the programmes and projects we put in place for our young people,” Cummings said.
Cummings added that Cabinet appointed two committees in relation to youth development centres. One was to look at the restruct
