Four years after two of her children died horrifically during a fire at the state-owned Drop-in-Centre on Hadfield Street, Sonia George has also died and now her remaining children are in the care of her relatives.
Joshua and Anthony were three and six years old, respectively, when they died on July 8, 2016. George was in a battle with the Child Care and Protection Agency (CC&PA) for the return of her three other children who remained in state custody.
They were eventually returned to her care and at the time of her death on June 30, 2020 she was the mother of five, the last two being twins, a boy and a girl. George was 41 years old at the time of her death.
Prior to the fire, George’s then five children were removed from her home and taken into state care because of the conditions under which they lived. The CC&PA had received complaints but following their death George protested bitterly that her sons would have been alive had they remained in their care.
In an effort to assist her to improve her life the state had given her a piece of land.
This newspaper was told that the then Ministry of Social Protection through CC&PA in collaboration with Food for the Poor had built a two bedroom George a home in Plum Park, Sophia and she lived there with her five children and a partner up to the time of her death. The house was also fully furnished by the ministry which also ensured that it had all the needed amenities.
Today the twins remain in the house and they are being cared for by George’s maternal uncle and his wife while the older children are with a maternal aunt in the same Sophia area. The house however, belongs to George’s children. The CC&PA continues to assist the children by supporting the families and since they are part of the foster care programme they receive financial assistance to help care for the children.
“They are doing well. We can happily report that they are doing well. Of course due to COVID some things have changed like schooling, but they are being well taken care of by the family members,” an official from the agency told this newspaper.
According to the official, the family had stepped up even before her death, but George was peculiar about her children’s care, so she preferred to care for them herself and it was not until after her death that the family was really allowed to play the role they wanted to play.
“When she died all of the children were with her. She did have a partner that was assisting somewhat, not in a major way but was assisting somewhat with the care of the children. But the family members were aware that she was ill, and they would provide support as well.
“They were the ones who had taken her to the hospital and had her admitted, made sure she received the services she needed but unfortunately she was not able to pull through,” the official said.
Since her death, the official said, her relatives have really taken up the mantle and are caring for the five children.
Joshua and Anthony George were among their mother’s five children who were removed from her Chapel Street, Lodge home by CC&PA officers two days before the fire. Twenty-nine other children who were in the building managed to escape the fire.
In an interview with this newspaper months after her children had died, George, speaking to those who might have felt she was a bad mother resulting in her children being removed, had said that it was the furthest from the truth and she wanted the nation to know that she loved her children.
“My children were not on the streets when they take them. Our house was burnt down that is why we were living in the old house, but poverty is not a crime, we were living in a house,” she had said at that time.
She had pointed out that when the officers removed the children they had no marks of violence and were not being physically abused; and instead of being protected, two died.
Following the horrific deaths of the boys the President had commissioned a Commission of Inquiry (CoI) which found that there were “systemic failures at all levels” and those in charge of the centre were responsible for the state of affairs that led to the deaths of two young brothers in a fire.
“The CoI found that this was a tragedy waiting to happen and that there was collective responsibility for the tragic event which claimed the lives of Joshua and Antonio George. The system to protect the children failed and therefore all the players are collectively responsible,” the report had said.
Among other findings, the report highlighted the overcrowding at the centre, the inadequate and poorly trained staff working at the time of the July 8 fire, and the lack of adherence to fire regulations.
