Armadale Enquiry - Girls tell of a tough lifeLaw enforcement officer...
August 21, 2009
Girls were living in a bathroom at one of the dormitories at the Armadale Juvenile Correctional Centre, says a ward who testified at the commission of enquiry yesterday.
The enquiry is being held to investigate what led to a fire at the institution, which left seven wards of the state dead.
The 14-year-old girl said she lived in a section of the cottage dorm called the bathroom dorm at the St Ann facility.
Unlike some of her other colleagues who wept while giving their testimony, the teen burst into a short fit of laughter as she spoke about the bathroom dorm. She said it had two toilets but they did not work properly.
"We would have to use the water to flush it and sometimes it bung up," she said, chuckling and covering her face.
No shower curtains
The ward also said there were two showers in the dorm, a large one with several pipes and a smaller one. However, she revealed that the large shower did not have any curtains, and several girls used it at the same time. "Yuh just walk inside, there is nothing to block off, nothing to hide," she said boldly as she explained that those who lived in the dorm could look at the girls while they were showering or using the toilet.
The ward, who went to Armadale on April 18, said sometimes the bathroom gave off a foul odour, and the lack of shower curtains were a menace to those who lived in the room because of the water.
"It wet up di floor, di place in there easily dirty," she added.
The youngest ward in the dorm said life at Armadale was rough, pointing out that she was stabbed by another ward, but this was not the only problem.
"Sometimes, they used to bag my face and take away my food and if Ms Ferreira is not there, I didn't get any food," she said, adding that the other correctional officers did not care sometimes....
Author: Kimesha Walters
Source: Jamaica Gleaner
