All of the families affected by the Mahdia dormitory fire which claimed the lives of 20 children have signed agreements with the government to accept $5m which would constitute the settlement of all claims possibly arising out of the May 21st tragedy.
A statement on the agreements was issued yesterday by the Attorney General’s Chambers following media reports on it.
Prior to yesterday, the Guyana Government had not disclosed the construction of the agreements with the families and more importantly that the families were accepting a settlement of possible claims.
Observers say with a Commission of Inquiry (CoI) into the fire still to be convened the government was trespassing on territory that would traditionally come within the ambit of a CoI and the affected families may not have been adequately aware of what they were signing to.
According to sources, the agreements were entered into earlier this month in Mahdia and Micobie and the signatory on behalf of the Government of Guyana was Peter Ramotar, the Regional Executive Officer of Potaro/Siparuni.
The agreement stated that the government has committed to support the families of the victims in as many ways as possible and it cited transportation to and from Georgetown, accommodation and other types of support including psychosocial assistance in the city, all possible medical assistance in the country as well as overseas, funeral arrangements as well as related expenditures, the replacement of all items destroyed in the fire and other forms of support.
The agreement then goes on to state that the government was offering $5m to the parents or guardian of the victim as a form of financial aid which shall constitute a settlement of all claims and actions in relation to injuries resulting in death or not that stemmed from the fire on May 21, 2023 at the Mahdia Secondary School Dormitory.
According to sources, the agreement went on to recognise that the signatories had completely read and understood the terms and voluntarily accepted it for the purpose of a compromise and the settling of all potential claims for liability and injury.
It further contended that independent legal advice on the agreement had been offered and/or received by the signatories.
Following media reports on the agreement, the Attorney General’s Chambers yesterday confirmed its existence and said that a full accounting of the monies expended will be provided in “due course”
The statement said that from the beginning, the Government made it “abundantly clear” that it will offer every type of assistance possible and necessary to the victims and families of the dormitory fire.
“Thus far, medical treatment has been offered both locally and overseas, all transportation to and from Region 8 to Georgetown and accommodation in Georgetown were provided, all funeral and related expenses have been paid, and all personal items destroyed in the fire have been purchased and delivered. Psychosocial assistance, including counselling, has also been provided.
“The Government pledges to continue to offer support and assistance in various ways to enable the families to continue to cope with, and recover from, this horrendous tragedy. In this regard, many family members requested cash which they could use to make purchases that would enhance their ability to continue to provide for their families. In response to these requests, Government offered each family financial assistance, and the families were requested to sign an agreement having received independent legal advice. The process of providing this financial assistance is ongoing. In the Agreement itself, Government pledged to continue to offer such support as may be necessary to the victims and their families. Given that public monies are being expended, and recognising that these expenditures will have to be transparently accounted for, the agreements were reduced into writing. Thus far, all the affected families engaged have signed agreements”, the statement said.
The agreement also said that no party to it admits any liability as a result of the fire.
It added that a full report of all monies expended in relation to the tragedy will be made public in due course, as the process is a continuing one.
Review
The statement said that the Commission of Inquiry (COI) as promised by President Irfaan Ali will be established, and that Commission of Inquiry will, if it considers necessary, review all the facts and circumstances relating to the event, in accordance with its Terms of Reference.
The Government’s pledge to continue to offer assistance to the victims and their families in no way affects the mandate of this intended COI, as is, “unfortunately, being peddled in some quarters”, the statement yesterday said. “The Government hopes that the wishes and welfare of the victims of this tragedy are neither exploited nor politicised, and expects that this issue will be accorded the solemnity and dignity which it rightly deserves”, the statement said.
The government has said that Major-General (rtd) Joe Singh has been identified to chair the commission of inquiry and other members are to be identified. It is unclear who is developing the terms of reference but there have been calls for bipartisanship in this process considering that culpability questions surround key government officials in this matter.
Two warnings by the fire service at Mahdia to the Regional Education Officer about the hazard posed by the grills on the dorm were apparently not transmitted to the Region Eight council and acted on.
In addition, a report commissioned by the Ministry of Education which exposed the fire risks at dorms throughout the country was not acted on even though it was delivered a year before.
Minister of Education Priya Manickchand has declined to say what specifically was done with the report and who it was passed to.
The 20 children who perished in the fire were 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, Sherana Daniels and Arianna Edwards along with five-year-old Adonijah Jerome, the son of the caretaker.
A resident of the dorm at the time of the fire is now facing 20 charges of murder.
Firefighters and public-spirited citizens on the night of Sunday, May 21st spent their time trying to contain the blaze and rescue students.
Parkinson John who resides next door to the Region Eight dormitory told Stabroek News on May 22nd that he assisted in saving at least eight students. According to him, he was the first person to respond to the fire after being alerted by his dogs constantly barking.
“I went over in my underwear alone and tried to save them. On the left side of the building there was only smoke so I rush in and try to get them to exit. The smoke had them bad but I wrap a cloth around my face and run and grab who I can,” John explained. He stated that he made two trips before he had to abandon the rescue mission due to the high volume of smoke.
He went on to state that if others were as brave as him they could have saved more students.
Nonetheless, he stated that persons who responded after him, assisted in trying to open up the grills for the students to escape.
“When I hear the screams I run to get a piece of wood and try to open the grill but I couldn’t do it on my own and the other guys help. They pull who they could have out of the building. Some of the kids were badly burnt…”, John added.
The first responder and local community hero added that the fire service responded approximately 20 minutes after the blaze started. By then the building was consumed by the inferno.
Mahdia resident Kyle Smith, in a Facebook Live on Sunday night said that despite the doors being opened after the alarm was raised, students were trapped.
Smith in his video stated that his wife alerted him to an amber glow in the sky and he later realised it was a fire at the dormitory.
“My wife wake me up and said look how the place looking red red on that one side and it looked so attractive to my eyes. I picked up my phone to take a picture but there and then I realised when people start shouting for help and when I look closely there is fire,” he recounted.
He noted that just after his arrival on the scene, he assisted in taking a student to the Ambulance but many others remained trapped.
“There isn’t much the fire service could have done because there is just one truck in Mahdia and the lil water it had stored up, they use up and it finishes and the truck gone…about 20 minutes later it returned,” he explained to viewers.
During his live stream, he stated that the roof of the building collapsed and the entire property was engulfed in flames. The rain however arrived some minutes later and helped put out the blaze.
Systemic
The UNICEF report commissioned by the ministry said that “All the school dormitory facilities have systemic and similar issues related to management system inadequacies, lack of resources and inadequate functional spaces, major shortage of staff and behavioural issues with students”. It was titled ‘Assessment Report – Field Study of Dormitory Plants…Development of Gender Sensitive Standards for Dormitory Schools in Guyana’.
The study highlighted recommendations for both fire prevention and safety and response with the report giving guidelines on being equipped and utilising standard building codes.
After speaking with management of all of the dorms in this country, the report stated that the result was that 100% of them believed that safety and health measures at their facilities were poor, some 85% said that overcrowding was a key deficiency and also related that students needed more recreational facilities, while 80% pointed out that there were water, power and sanitation deficiencies at their institutions.
When the students residing in the dorms were spoken to, staggering numbers highlighted overcrowding, poor ventilation in the rooms, inadequate toilets and showers and poor and inadequate bedroom furnishings.
Where their dormitory caregivers had highlighted a lack of recreational facilities, the 85% number was the same for students except that when it came to the provision of indoor activities 100% highlighted that there was a deficiency and they needed more options such as board games or a basic television to watch.
