Not enough being done for our children, says Blaine
MONTEGO BAY, St James — Betty Ann Blaine, head of the one-year-old New Nation Coalition, says the Government has not been doing enough for the nation’s children.
“Until we get a government that truly cares for the children, the situation under which they live is not going to improve,” she declared.
Blaine, who has over the years lobbied for the interest of the young ones through her Hear the Children Cry group, was addressing the monthly meeting of the Kiwanis Club of Providence at the Wexford Hotel in Montego Bay Wednesday night.
She charged that the Bruce Golding led-Government is yet make a national address about the state of the nation’s children, despite being in office for almost four years.
“They have not made one statement…. not after Armadale, not after Ananda Dean, not after all the other children who were brutally murdered, not after the school children who have committed suicide… nothing has been said and this is absolutely disgraceful,” Blaine told Kiwanians.
Two years ago, seven teenage girls perished in a deadly fire at the Armadale Junior Correctional Centre in St Ann. The incident resulted in the establishing of a commission on inquiry into the matter and the interdiction of several policemen. Dean, a 11-year-old student, was abducted and raped and her headless body dumped in bushes in a section of St Andrew.
Blaine claimed on Wednesday night that her Hear the Children’s Cry, is the only non-government organisation in the island that is completely dedicated to working on behalf of missing children.
“We not only track the number of children that go missing, but we provide support for theMm and their families and provide free counselling services,” she explained.
According to Blaine, more than 150 children go missing in Jamaica annually. She pointed out, however, that of that amount 75 per cent return home.
The child advocate told the Kiwanians that her organisation is overwhelmed with the plethora of issues negatively impacting on children, and urged them play their role in addressing the problem.
“I believe that the Kiwanis Club of Providence has a big role to play in speaking about what is going on with our children and to offer solutions,” she argued.