‘Keep your children off the streets’

– Minister Persaud warns parents, guardians

Minister of Human Services and Social Security, Hon. Dr. Vindhya Persaud is urging parents and guardians to ensure their children remain safe by keeping them off the streets. 

Minister Persaud, during an interview with DPI on Tuesday, said the issue of child beggars and wanderers has been engaging the attention of the Ministry’s Childcare and Protection Agency (CPA), which will soon launch an initiative to address the matter.

“We would have had a number of meetings to deal with this issue…the children you would think that they don’t have homes to go to, 99.9 per cent of these children have homes. The few that don’t have homes, we have taken into the family centre,” Minister Persaud said.

In some cases, children are left unsupervised and end up on the streets wandering. Minister Persaud said the ministry has been meeting with those parents in hopes of remedying the situation.

“The legislation allows us to take harsher measures and I mean we can get to that point, but at this point in time, we are telling parents keep your children off the streets,” the Minister said.

While some children are placed at the Children and Family Care Centre in Georgetown, Minister Persaud said there are instances where the ministry would provide assistance to parents through its safety net programmes, so that they could provide for their children.

“Know where your children are, supervise them and if you have challenges, maybe you cannot provide something, a meal, come to the Childcare and Protection Agency, we will help you with that.”

Meanwhile, Minister Persaud said she is concerned about children on the streets, who are exposed to ‘predators’ and persons “who promise them all sort of things.” She said all efforts must be made to protect them.

This year, the ministry has earmarked some $892 million of its budgetary allocation to ensure the protection and wellbeing of the nation’s children.