All children out of lockups by July

KINGSTON — Prime Minister, the Hon. Bruce Golding has said that by the end of July, there will be no children on remand in police lockups.

He gave this commitment during his address at the opening ceremony of the Metcalfe Street Secure Juvenile Centre on June 1.

Mr. Golding noted that in the current situation some 101 children were in police lockups in conflict with the Child Care and Protection Act and also international conventions of which Jamaica is a signatory. “The anxiety that I know many of us feels is how quickly we can get those youngsters who are being held in the various lockups across the country,” he said.     

The Prime Minister also said that the government had plans to increase centres for children placed in correctional centres by the court to seven by rebuilding a facility at Copse, Hanover.

The centre was retrofitted, by the Engineer Regiment of the Jamaica Defence Force (JDF) at a cost of $190 million. When fully staffed, the centre will house and run educational and counseling programmes towards the transformation of 208 young residents who have found themselves in conflict with the law.