are being temporarily housed at the Canaan Home at Port Mourant

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The Commission of Inquiry (COI) appointed by the Ministry of Human Services and Social Security to investigate allegations of maltreatment at the Camal International Home for Abused Women and Children, Albion, Corentyne, has announced that it has completed all necessary inquiries.Administrator of Camal Home, Carmen Kissoon with the relatives who turned up to testify on Thursday last.The Commission said that it is currently compiling findings and it maintained that the report of the investigation will be released no earlier than January 10, 2014.The inquiries come after three girls, aged 12, 14 and 15, were arrested on November 20, 2013 and held for several days at the Albion Police Station, after allegedly ‘wandering’ away from the home. The matter was called before Magistrate Ravindra Singh who ordered that the girls be deployed to the New Opportunity Corps (NOC) in Essequibo.Currently, however, the girls, two of whom are sisters, are being temporarily housed at the Canaan Home at Port Mourant, Corentyne.On Thursday last, the two-day inquiry commenced with testimonies from individuals directly related to the case. The venue for the commission was the Albion Sports Complex. The exercise was premised by the Ministry under the basis of gathering information from the public into the allegations of maltreatment of children at the popular orphanage.According to Commissioner Saudia Ferouz, testimonies were received from about eight persons including the three girls; Head of the Home, Carmen Kissoon; probation officers, representatives of the Child Care and Protection Agency (CCPA) and two relatives of the sisters.The Commission, on the second day, took to the fields where interviews were conducted with persons from the Albion community, officers at the Albion Police Station, staff at the Camal Home and the Attorney-at-Law, Adrian Anamayah, who had filed on behalf of the teenagers.Following the arrest of the girls, claims of ill-treatment on the part of the Administration surfaced with members of society questioning the competence of the home in properly caring for the children housed there.Concerning the 12-year-old, who had attended the Corentyne Comprehensive High School, one teacher said, “I spoke to the girl personally and the girl said sometimes she goes to school without lunch and the teachers would have to buy lunch for her.“We never knew the extent of her sadness. When she was absent, the teachers were trying to get in contact with the home but they were given the royal runaround, that there were two such homes in the county.”There were also claims that the Administrator would sell items that are donated to the Home.