T&T Minister: New mapping system to locate children at all times

(Trinidad Express) A new mapping system to help pinpoint the exact location of children at all times was announced yesterday morning by Minister in the Ministry of the People and Social Development, Vernella Alleyne-Toppin. At the time, Alleyne-Toppin was paying a courtesy visit to the relatives of murder victims nine-year-old Jadel Holder and 15-year-old Jamal Braithwaite, at their home at Petunia Avenue, Morvant.

Alleyne-Toppin expressed condolences to the grieving relatives, including the boys’ mother Michelle Holder, for their loss and officially informed them that the Government would be prepared to provide assistance and counseling to the family. Holder accepted the offer from the Minister, saying she was very “happy and thankful” for the offer and the gesture of kindness. Speaking to members of the media following the visit, Alleyne-Toppin revealed the news of the mapping system.

“We have spoken to the Minister of Education so that we can have markers on children so that from the time they are born right through early childhood,  we will always know where they are. The Ministry of the people will be doing the biometric survey, where you would be marked so that  we would know where every child is at any given time. It is a system that will, for instance, track whether or not a child is in school when they ought to be,”  Alleyne-Toppin revealed.

On Sunday, the brothers had just had lunch at their home at Petunia Avenue, Morvant, when at about 3 p.m. two gunmen broke into their home. Within minutes the brothers were killed. Their 16-year-old cousin Glendel Alexander, was also wounded in the incident. The attackers then escaped.

The two brothers are expected to be laid to rest sometime early next week.