Dear Editor,
Guyana mourns today. The grief, the pain, the sorry is palpable. Collectively we all feel and share these profound emotions as we are jolted out of our sleep with the horrific news of the fiery death of 19 girls at the Mahdia school dorm in region 8. Indeed, the nation mourns with the small mining town and community of Mahdia. One can only feel for the victims, their families and friends. Words are not enough to express our condolences to those who must now live and carry on mourning the tragic loss of their loved ones, their children, children of the nation.
At the personal level, while I’m deeply saddened at the loss of lives, I’m angry; very angry that yet another fire has destroyed a public building and that this time around the result is the gruesome deaths of 19 young innocent children with an untold number injured and traumatized. I’m angry that the recurring incidents of burning public buildings have not been met with a strong response of deterrence, of introduction of modern building standards, life, fire and safety codes and protection systems. While those in authority have failed and continue to fail the nation, we as a people are also collectively responsible and guilty.
We are guilty of being complacent, of not demanding and holding to account the various agencies, bureaus, NDC’s and Ministries with direct responsibilities for national standards and public safety. We are guilty of creating our own death traps with our illegal constructions, of unauthorized and un-inspected, substandard and overloaded electrical connections. We are guilty of utilizing the cheapest foreign electrical equipment and material that does not meet the basic internationally recognized standards. We are guilty of turning a blind eye to the death traps that exists in the many old, dilapidated and overgrown buildings across the country.
We play politics and aid and abet the illegal construction of shacks, roadside vending stands and other structures that violate so many ordinances. We are guilty of not demanding better. It should not be that our preference is for these foreign made counterfeit fakes that fail at the first instance of stress and load. Our preference ought to be our demand. Our demand ought to be directed to those agencies that allow for these material and equipment to be readily available across the country. We must demand that all new building be built to modern standard and codes. We must demand that all building plans meet the minimum requirements for fire, life and safety; that all plans are officially approved by the various relevant civil and electrical agencies.
We must demand more regularized and effective inspection of all aspects of building construction. We must reject shoddy and sloppy work and demand higher quality. We must demand that inspectors rigorously issue certificates of non-compliance and deficiencies and follow up as required. None of this guilt will bring back the 19 children who perished in the early morning blaze but if we act upon our guilt and the raw emotions that now envelope the nation, we can collectively effect change. In this small nation of 750,000 souls, one life lost is one life too many. May the deaths of these 19 innocent children, our children, children of this nation not be in vain.
May their death be the catalyst that spurs us on to effect changes for the protection of our lives and safety. Our prayers and thoughts are not enough. Be angry and let that anger be known!
Sincerely,
Jay Mobeen
