| Social Workers of the Child Care and Protection Agency (CCPA) stepped in once again to ensure adequate care and protection for children when they rescued a toddler who was left alone in a Charlotte Street residence.Social Worker Pamela Heywood with the toddler who was rescued from the Charlotte Street home. She holds the knife that the child was playing with at the time of his rescue.According to Social Worker Pamela Heywood, at around 18:40 hours yesterday, the protection agency received a hotline report which indicated that a child, no older than three years old, was left alone in a house.The Social Worker said that the report came from a contractor who had visited the house to carry out works. The contractor, John Peters, informed Kaieteur News that when he arrived at the house he saw no one, but since his work was being done outside, he assumed that the occupants were inside.After completing his work and while he was leaving the premises, he opted to inform an occupant of his departure, however when he called out, there was no response.“I calling ‘inside, inside’, but when nobody ain’t answer I started checking the rooms. Then I discovered that there was no one there. I went to the back of the building where there was no back door and no back step and I saw the child in a room. He had a knife,” Peters said.The sight of the child, alone in the unkempt house,Kenny Lofton Indians Jersey, prompted him to immediately get in touch with the Child Protection Agency.According to the social worker, upon receiving the report she immediately acted by going down to the premises, only to meet up with the child’s grandfather.She said that the man, who appeared to be under the influence of alcohol “was giving a whole lot of trouble” when she requested to enter the house; and as such she had no choice but to seek assistance from the police in order to gain entry so as to rescue the child.“When we got inside the house, the child was with a knife on the bed, he looked very hungry and he was crying. There were no lights; rats all over the place and dirty clothes all over,” the Social Worker recounted.This newspaper observed that apart from a urine-soaked pamper, the child was naked.Kaieteur News was also informed that the child would be heard “screaming” on a regular basis and it is neighbours who would feed him.She said that due to the “total squalor” under which the child was forced to exist, the agency saw the need to rescue him immediately. This decision, however, did not meet well with the grandfather who lashed out at the social worker.“The grandfather was rowing all the time. He said nobody can take the child, Government don’t mind the child,” Heywood said.She added that the man told her that he “minds the child” with his pension.According to her, the child was left in the care of his grandfather after his mother left to dwell in the interior.The social worker said that as of now, the child will be taken to one of the agency’s centres where he will be kept for the night and will be taken for a medical examination today.She said that after this is done, the agency will be working to find a suitable home for him. |
