As the cause of the Wednesday night fire that destroyed a Lamaha Street embankment home is being probed, relatives said that the owner of the home has not yet contacted them.
Relatives yesterday said that the whereabouts of owner of the home, Jamil Baksh, is a mystery to them as since the incident occurred he has not gotten in touch with them.
Shortly before 10 pm on Wednesday neighbours observed flames emanating from the home, located behind the Georgetown Public Hospital. They called the fire service who responded but they were unable to stop the fire gutting the building. At that time the whereabouts of Baksh was unknown. One man had told Stabroek News at the scene that shortly before the incident, Baksh stopped to see his (the man’s) wife before leaving to go to his home. He had said that Baksh and his wife had marital problems some two weeks previously.
This was confirmed by Baksh’s relatives yesterday who said that the couple, who have five children, often fought. Stabroek News was told that the couple had lived together for 28 years and “from day one they does gat domestic problem”.
When this newspaper visited Baksh’s mother, Zahora Muikudrat at her Lamaha Street embankment house yesterday, relatives who gathered there said that since the incident he had not been in touch with them.
Muikudrat related that she had last seen her son at 2 pm on Wednesday as he was passing through her yard. She said that earlier he had told her that he had some problems and had also suffered from high blood pressure. “Me seh boy you nah go sleep, go and rest yuhself”, the elderly woman recounted. She recalled that she learnt of the fire when neighbours informed her of it on Wednesday night. “A neighbour come and tell me and me nearly drop down”, she said.
The woman said that her son, who is a sno-cone vendor, had often complained of problems in his life. She said that he and his reputed wife had begun living together 28 years ago and they often fought, resulting in the woman leaving the home several times.
She said two weeks ago, the couple had a fight and the man’s wife again left the home later followed by the three smaller children who still lived with them as the two older ones had married and moved out. She said that when she saw Baksh three days ago he had said that “he get nuff worries and he gat he own domestic problem”. Muikudrat said that sometime back she had received an invitation to one of her grandchildren’s wedding but when she showed the invitation to him, he said that he knew nothing about his daughter’s impending wedding.
She conceded that her son sometimes drank which contributed to the couple’s arguments. “He does drink and get the `lil argument with them”.
Yesterday she stated that she was worried about her son and calls to various places in an attempt to locate him were unsuccessful.
