1 of 6 juveniles who escaped from NOC voluntarily returns

One of the six male teens who escaped from the New Opportunity Corps (NOC), Onderneeming, Essequibo Coast, Region Two (Pomeroon-Supenaam) on Tuesday last, voluntarily returned to the correctional facility on Saturday.
This is according to Commander of G Division (Essequibo Coast-Islands), Senior Superintendent Khali Pareshram, who in an interview with this publication said that law enforcement officers in the region are still searching for the five remaining juveniles.
Commander Pareshram told Guyana Times that although the six had escaped from the NOC between March 25 and 26, 2019, a report was only made to the police about the incident on March 29.
However, while the search was on for the teenagers, one of them voluntarily returned to the facility.
According to Commander Pareshram, the police can only act when these juveniles escape if a report is made or if they are informed of the situation. He noted that ranks cannot conduct investigations into matters that have not been reported by the NOC.
He noted that with regard to Government-run/operated institutions, when it involves children, the relevant authorities have to notify the police so that the law enforcement officials can become directly involved.
In relation to the previous incident that occurred two weeks ago when 24 juveniles escaped from the NOC, the Commander stated that all of them from that group are presently back at the facility – some returned voluntarily while others were captured by the police.
On Tuesday last, at about 08:00h, four males escaped the facility by scaling the fence surrounding the juvenile correctional facility.

Additionally, in the afternoon at about 17:30h, two more teens crawled through a dried up koker in the compound. They all made good their escape.
Less than two weeks ago, on March 16, twenty-four teenagers who were being housed at this holding centre in Region Two, escaped from the facility.
Reports are that at about 19:30h the discovery was made that 17 males and seven females made good their escape even with three security officers and their dorm mothers and fathers in the building.
According to the police, investigations revealed that the females opened a southern door in their dormitory and tied five sheets together then threw the knotted sheets over the western fence of the compound in order to escape.
Guyana Times was told that the males who broke out of the NOC did so by opening a southern window in their dormitory and simply climbed over the fence.
At that time, the police were able to recapture some of the male escapees while some other male juveniles voluntarily returned to the facility.
Meanwhile, residents in the area and neighbouring communities are calling for an immediate investigation as to why so many breakouts at the juvenile holding facility seem to be occurring and for certain security measures to be put in place immediately to correct this. (Kristen Macklingam)