The effort of the Justice Sector Development Programme (JSDP) in constructing the Remand Home for juvenile offenders at Kingtom would be meaningless if urgent action is not taken to repair the damages and leakages in the roofs of that structure.
Talking to madam Gatru Sesay, the matron of the Remand Home, she acknowledged receipt of the fact that the inmates were well catered for but pointed out to certain constraints which ranged from inadequate personnel to man the Home and the physical damages done to the structure by some aggressive inmates.
She confirmed that out of the five cells available only three were utilized because the ceilings and roofs of the other cells were damaged by the inmates.
Ms Sesay noted that most of the inmates were drug addicts, between the ages of 10 to 18, that needed serious attention to detraumatize them otherwise, she maintained, “there is every tendency for them to continue wrecking havoc”. She added that there were sentenced juvenile offenders who would be transferred to the Approved School at Kissy and the other categories of juvenile offenders who await verdict would be kept until verdict was passed.
In a dialogue with Hawa Mansaray, the teacher attached to the Remand Home, she said her job was challenging because dealing with juvenile offenders required special skill to capture their attentions.
On a whole, she revealed, the inmates were very much cooperative and eager acquire knowledge in mathematics and English language.
By Solomon Rogers
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