Neilson Anderson, acting property manager for the Department of Correctional Services, said he was too busy doing other things to pay attention to adjustments to the office dorm at the Armadale Juvenile Correctional Centre where a May 22 fire left seven wards of the state dead.

Anderson, who was continuing his testimony yesterday at the enquiry into the fire at the Council of Voluntary Social Services in Kingston, maintained that the dorm was a cause for concern from the outset, as it had only one entrance. However, he said he had not been back to do an inspection since his first visit last year. He said after seven girls escaped from Armadale on May 7, he was not called to make any adjustments to the property.

Earlier, the enquiry was told that the girls had cut through a ceiling on the cottage dorm, but Neilson maintained that he was never told of any structural damage or repairs that should have been done.

Grille was installed

Additionally, Anderson, who is responsible for maintaining the 13 correctional institutions islandwide, said he did not know that a grille was installed in the dorm to block the girls from going to the bathroom. He said decisions were often made without his knowledge but he had no problem with it.

"That's the norm," he said.

Sergeant Alphanso Heath from the Alexandria Police Station, who also testified yesterday, said a device called a 'tear-gas bumming ball' was missing after the fire. Heath said he was told by Corporal Shawnette Dunkley that Constable Lawrence Burrell had requested the device on the day of the fire.

He said the request was verbal which was irregular, as it should have been recorded in the station diary. Heath said the tear-gas device has not been seen since.

He said he has asked Burrell to provide a report but that too has not been forthcoming, and no disciplinary action could be taken until the report was received.

At yesterday's sitting, Dunkley, who was testifying for a second time, said she saw the device in the vehicle when she left for Armadale but did not ask why it was there.

"After the incident, he (Burrell) told me he had requested it and he noticed that it was missing from his shirt," said Dunkley, who insisted she did not smell or feel anything unusual that night.

The enquiry resumes today.

kimesha.walters@gleanerjm.com