Inspectors from the Guyana Fire Service are conducting fire prevention and preparedness assessments at schools and dormitories countrywide which actually began a month before the May 21 blaze at a female dormitory at Mahdia that claimed 19 lives.
Speaking yesterday with Stabroek News via phone, acting Fire Chief Dwayne Scotland said that the exercise is ongoing and had commenced approximately one month prior to the Mahdia fire.
This proactive measure, Scotland says, aims to comprehensively evaluate the fire safety measures in place and identify potential hazards that can result in disaster. Scotland noted that the majority of inspections at the schools have been completed. He explained too that a recent inspection was carried out on the male dormitory at Mahdia. When asked what the findings of that inspection were, the acting fire chief replied that the report has not yet reached Georgetown.
Since the Mahdia dorm fire, questions has been raised on the preparedness to respond in the case of fires at schools and dormitories across the country. Subse-quent to the inspection, a report will be compiled highlighting the findings. Grills at the Mahdia dorm had been cited as one of the major problems on May 21.
Liliendaal dormitory
On a visit by Stabroek News yesterday to the Liliendaal Dormitory, which is the lone dorm facility supervised by the Ministry of Amerindian Affairs, it was observed that windows and doors on the lower flat of the building were secured by grills. Stabroek News gathered that it was a measure to prevent theft. It was also observed that the facility was outfitted with fire sprinklers and alarm systems, which are said to be in a working condition. This newspaper was advised that visits to the facility require permission from the Amerindian Affairs Ministry. Sources have told Stabroek News that grilled windows at the Mahdia Secondary School Dormitory were flagged by the fire service as a hazard in November of last year and February of this year. The Guyana Fire Service in a statement last Tuesday night said that the 26 windows of the flat concrete dormitory “were heavily grilled” while the five doors on the building were locked with keys.
Scotland, in a previous news article, while responding to questions from this newspaper, stated that there was limited evidence to suggest fire prevention measures were in place at the dormitory. He noted that while they found empty fire extinguishers, it is uncertain whether they came from within the dorm or from external efforts to fight the fire. Following the fire, Home Affairs Minister Robeson Benn last week said efforts were being made to upgrade the fire prevention systems at dormitories and schools across the country. Benn explained that they (the GFS) are looking at ways in which they can enhance fire prevention measures. He stated that while the Guyana Fire Service has been participating in drills and talks at schools, he stated that they would have to relook at ways in which they can boost their efforts.
“Yes we will, obviously we have to upgrade the efforts… we have been doing [fire readiness inspection], fire drills and fire talks in schools that still happens with students and guards, but what we have to do is a comprehensive assessment in the dormitories to get a better handle of the situation,” Benn asserted. Mahdia Mayor, David Adams, had told this newspaper that from his independent investigations, the students were not exposed to fire drills nor was the building equipped with fire escapes and extinguishers. “In its aftermath, we will now have to look at measures to have in place water mains so that the fire service can work effectively and relook at the security measures in place,” Adams stated. According to the sources, following the initial inspection in Mahdia, a report with recommendations was handed over to the relevant authorities and forwarded to Georgetown. At the same dormitory, recommendations for working fire extinguishers were also made.
It was noted that not just the dormitory was inspected but all the government buildings located in the township, at the centre of the country. A source, who is familiar with the report, went on to explain that none of the recommendations made had been implemented at any of the buildings. Region Eight Regional Executive Officer, Peter Ramotar, had confirmed there was a fire inspection exercise some months back. As REO of the region he could not confirm if the recommendations were in place. “I don’t know what you would determine as adequate, but no, we don’t have sprinkler systems and alarms or fire buckets but there are some fire extinguishers,” Ramotar added. On May 21, a fierce blaze took hold of the female dormitory just before midnight claiming the lives 18 females and a five-year-old male, the son of the dorm’s mother.
The nineteen children who perished have been identified as twin sisters Mary and Martha Dandrade, Bibi Rita Jeffrey, Sabrina John, Loreen Evans, Belnisa Evans, Omefia Edwin, Natalie Bellarmine, Andrea Roberts, Lorita Williams, Nickleen Robinson, Sherena Daniels, Eulanda Carter, Lisa Roberts, Cleoma Simon, Tracil Thomas, and sisters Delecia Edwards and Arianna Edwards along with five-year-old Adonijah Jerome, the son of the caretaker. While this was certainly the most devastating fire on record for the country, it is not the first dormitory fire. On August 31, 2008, a fire broke out in the girls’ dorm at Waramadong Secondary School. Three of the 12 students there at the time – Eleven-year-old Zanita Sam, 13-year-old Savylin David, and 13-year-old Sharmileza George, all of Kubenang, Upper Mazaruni in Region Seven (Cuyuni/Mazaruni) – perished in its wake. The entire building, which had no electricity, was destroyed.
In December 2007, the boys’ dormitory of the Bartica Secondary School also in Region Seven, was completely destroyed in a fire of unknown origin but with no fatalities.
