NOC staff admitted lack of qualifications during 2013 inquiry

–accused of abuse by inmates

Several of the staff members at the New Opportunity Corps (NOC) are insufficiently qualified for the posts they hold and not fully aware of their responsibilities; there are also claims of abuse of the institution’s teenaged inmates.

This is according to statements made to the Commission of Inquiry (CoI) into the NOC, several of which this newspaper has been privy to.

The statements, dated January 2013, indicated that poor administration and inappropriate handling of the juveniles kept at the correctional facility might have nurtured the conditions that prompted the breakouts, rampages and fires in August 2012. The official findings of the CoI have yet to be released even as new allegations of abuse at NOC have surfaced. Among its Terms of Reference was to examine the culpability of the inmates involved and review existing arrangements and make recommendations to