Prime Minister Kamla Persad-Bissessar said her Government is fully committed to protecting the nation’s children and has taken steps to ensure that vulnerable children are identified and supported.
During Wednesday’s sitting of Parliament, Opposition MP Marvin Gonzales asked the Prime Minister to indicate what measures the Government has taken, or intends to take, to strengthen support and protection services for children in light of recent criminal incidents affecting minors.
Persad-Bissessar criticised the People’s National Movement (PNM) Opposition for expressing concern about children after, she said, failing to protect them during its decade in office.
“Honourable Speaker, I continue to be astonished, astonished by the temerity of those on the other side, today very concerned about our nation’s children, because when they had the opportunity to do so, to take care of the children for the past 10 years, they failed so,” she said.
She also said the Opposition failed to support the Children’s Fund legislation last year, which expanded the range of ailments for which financial assistance can be provided to assist sick children.
The Prime Minister said her Government remains fully committed to protecting the nation’s children.
“We have adopted a whole-of-government approach to safeguarding children. We have strengthened collaboration amongst the Children’s Authority, the TTPS, the Ministry of Education, the Ministry of Health and the Ministry of the People and Social Development and Family Services to ensure that vulnerable children are identified earlier and protected more effectively,” she said.
Persad-Bissessar said the Government has accelerated efforts to strengthen child protection systems, improve case management and enhance information-sharing among agencies so that warning signs do not fall through the cracks.
She added that efforts are also underway to increase frontline capacity within agencies responsible for child welfare and family support, recognising that prevention begins long before a crisis occurs.
