Deputy Jeremy Maçon said he had been listening to feedback from survivors of abuse who were not on the Citizens’ Panel, which recommended the memorial be constructed following the publication of the Independent Jersey Care Inquiry’s report in 2017.
When he was elected as Children’s Minister last year, Deputy Maçon indicated that he intended to drop the memorial following a significant public backlash.
However, he has now said that he has ‘committed to work with the Citizens’ Panel to achieve a final memorial which responds to the views and experiences of survivors as part of the overall Legacy Project, and hope that we will be in a position to move into the next phase after Easter’.
Shortlisted designs for the memorial were revealed in October, although the project had already sparked debate among Islanders with some arguing it would serve as a traumatic reminder of abuse for the survivors.
‘Since late last year, we have been reaching out and listening to survivors who were not involved in the Citizens’ Panel process,’ said the minister.
‘This is to ensure that their views about how Jersey should recognise and remember historic abuse and the proposed care memorial can be taken into account alongside those of panel members.
‘In recognition of the difficulties many survivors face in dealing with government, this important and sensitive work has been conducted through independent facilitators.’
Last year it was agreed that £200,000 would be set aside for the project, which prompted a wave of criticism from those against the memorial and saw almost 3,000 people sign a petition calling for that decision to be reversed.
Paedophile-hunter Cheyenne O’Connor, who poses as a child online to catch sex offenders, said she had been talking to those involved in the project and that it was ‘really good’ to hear that Deputy Maçon had been listening to survivors. Ms O’Connor led a protest against the memorial at the Weighbridge in October.
‘There was quite a big group of survivors who weren’t on the panel,’ she said. ‘We want everyone to get a say and have a voice, rather than people being left aside and getting upset by it.’
