ministerofsocialservices

Minister of Social Services Frankie Campbell said his office has reached out to the 30-year-old woman who was left homeless with her three children after eviction from her apartment, and she has since turned down an offer for temporary housing.

Why it matters

Member of Parliament for Englerston Glenys Hanna-Martin criticized the government for its handling of housing issues and rental assistance amidst the pandemic, highlighting the woman’s issue who was recently featured in national news report.

The big story

The mother of a newborn baby, Claudia Grant was featured on Our News on Tuesday night, telling her story of having to resort to sleeping in her car with her children.

Grant said she was left jobless since March at the height of the COVID-19 pandemic, and was eventually left homeless recently after eviction.

Grant said she relies on the assisstance from the national task force and church charities to get by as the fathers of the children are not in their lives.

What Minister Frankie Campbell says

Social Services Minister Frankie Campbell responded to Gleny’s Hanna-Martin, clarifying his ministry’s response to the issue.

“We have found her. We’ve spoken to her and her response to our offer is that she is not interested in anything temporary. She is looking for a more permanent offer and she is awaiting an offer that was extended to her.

“And my office has indicated to her that if that doesn’t work out, we’re still here for [her].”

What the video shows

• The eight-minute-long video shows staff members administering punishment to children in a room where nearly 20 children are gathered.
• A woman dressed in scrubs is the first to issue punishment with a long, flexible stick as children queue to receive punishment.
• Five minutes and 30 seconds into the video, a flailing boy is held down and violently whipped atop a table, as he scrambles to be freed.
• Then a second boy is held down on the floor by three adults, to be whipped.
• Seven minutes into the video, a woman in a wheelchair rolls in, whipping a little boy with a stick as staff members laugh and cajole.

How Social Services Minister Frankie Campbell responds to the video

• Frankie Campbell said the matter will be investigated. “I reassure the public that this matter will be properly investigated. It will be partially investigated.
• “We will leave no stone unturned and we will let the chips fall where they may,” Campbell said.
• “If someone is culpable the chips will fall where they may.”
• “I’ve spoken to the chairman of the board at the Children’s Emergency Hostel (Arthur Peet) and we are on the same page.”
• He added, “I want to thank all who have expressed genuine concern…”

A local entrepreneur diagnosed with cerebral palsy is pushing forward and maximizing his potential in the country’s newly established mask industry.

Forty-six-year-old Donald Martin, in a motorized scooter, sells masks to children and adults on Farrington Road, between Eden and Hibiscus Streets.

His roadside operation caught the attention of Social Services Minister Frankie Campbell, who while returning from a meeting, saw Martin and made a few purchases.

“Mr. Martin should serve as an inspiration for all persons because there he is with what some people may consider a legitimate excuse or reason – if he wanted it to be one – to not take advantage of this growing industry due to the fact that he is living with a disability,” Campbell said.

Mr. Martin said he is thankful for the opportunity for entrepreneurship and said his disability will not limit him.

“I thank God for life. You have some up days when business is booming and then you have some days when business is not as good as the others, but in all things, you give thanks to God.

“I have never given up on life because everybody has some challenges in life; you just have to be able to put them aside.

Moved by Martin’s entrepreneurial pursuit, Campbell said Martin serves as a motivation.

“He is out here assisting himself, taking full advantage of an opportunity for entrepreneurship as a result of the COVID-19 pandemic and a government decision to place some restrictions on the importation of masks at the start of the COVID-19 pandemic in The Bahamas, and instead offer those opportunities to Bahamian entrepreneurs.”

Martin also offers digital services. Campbell said his ministry will help to “empower him.”

Five students from the 2020 Graduating Class of the Red Cross’ Centre for the Deaf are on their way to Bahamas Technical and Vocational Institute.

The students graduated with Honours from the school on Friday, having used the public high school curriculum from the Ministry of Education.

Jevonny Allen received the Principal’s Award for the highest Grade Point Average, and Wilfrenique Belizaire, Waydesha Lewis, Patrick Pierre and Chinvia Saunders received awards for attaining Honour Roll status for their accumulative high school years, grades 10-12.

The graduates will enroll at the Bahamas Technical Vocational Institute and their goals are to become business owners at the conclusion of their studies at BTVI.

Minister of Social Services and Urban Development, Frankie Campbell said the students’ success was yet another example of the abilities of the community of persons with disabilities and of the possibilities that can exist when access and inclusion for all is fortified, and when the focus is on a person’s abilities as opposed to any disability with which they may live.

Minister Campbell told the graduates, their teachers and parents, that the Government of The Bahamas remains committed to ensuring access and inclusion for all of its citizens. Access and inclusion was the common message delivered by Minister Campbell and Minister of Education Jeffrey Lloyd, during the Graduation Ceremony held on the school’s campus.

“I want to state the commitment of the Government of The Bahamas to providing access and inclusion for all Bahamians and so when the government speaks about free tuition to the University of The Bahamas, we are speaking to you; when the Government speaks about free tuition to BTVI (The Bahamas Technical Vocational Institute), we are talking about you (and) when the Government talks about $55Million available for persons who want to become entrepreneurs, we are also talking about you,” Minister Campbell said.

Minister Campbell applauded the parents of the graduates for the roles they played in the students’ success.

“We are here today because this group of parents decided that they would not do what some other parents have done in the past, and continue to do, which is to keep their children who live with a disability at home. These special parents saw in their children, even from infancy, all of their abilities as opposed to any disability. I applaud you for your efforts, for your guidance and support,” Minister Campbell said.