In any normally functioning democracy, the death of 20 children under the direct care of the Ministry of Education would have seen the immediate resignation of the subject minister on a point of principle.
It is the honourable thing to do.
Instead what we have seen in the aftermath of the Mahdia tragedy is a Houdini-like wriggling out of responsibility by the same minister who now after testimony – not hers mind you – in the Commission of Inquiry is demanding that this newspaper’s narrative on her role in this tragedy will need to be corrected.
It does not and it will not.
She remains ultimately responsible because she failed to act and follow up with the seriousness and speed that the UNICEF report she commissioned and received deserved.
The pusillanimous decision by the Mahdia Commission of Inquiry not to call her is of course a disgrace but not a surprise. Many would have observed the smiles and even laughter between her and the commissioners when they were appointed, and suspected early on what would unfold. The fact that she was even present at the appointment ceremony was highly questionable. It sent the message that she was above being a subject of the inquiry, and so it has shown to be the case. There is simply no rationale behind their decision other than political feebleness.
However some facts have been established along the way. This includes the fraught relations between central and regional authorities and how politicians and public servants use these to avoid blame.
We see this in the testimony of the former Permanent Secretary of the Home Affairs Ministry, Mae Toussaint Jr Thomas, who said the ministry was never informed of the deficiencies and absence of key firefighting tools at the Mahdia Fire Station in Region Eight. And if they were, efforts would have been made to ensure that the issues were “immediately” addressed.
It is hard to square this rosy picture with Acting Fire Chief Gregory Wickham and the officer in charge of the Mahdia Fire Station, Ryan Scott who told the CoI the station did not have basic firefighting tools due to budgetary constraints at the time.
Meanwhile early on after the tragedy, Minister Manickchand had told the press her ministry had “commissioned that report knowing fully well that we have no responsibility or jurisdiction in local governance structure or in those facilities…”
This was the same minister who in her budget speech of 2012 declared “Now, in addition to the schools we boast of 22 dormitories across this country where more than 2,000 children are accessing an education when, before now, they would have been without access to that education.” Importantly the minister had conceded, “I would be the first to say that we have problems in the dorms.” And most significantly she had accepted that, “We are prepared to address those problems.”
And when then Opposition Leader David Granger in 2012 raised concerns over abuse and other issues at various dorms, her response at that time was not to say this was a matter for the region or another ministry. “After reviewing the statement by Mr Granger, she told Stabroek News that the Chief Education Officer, leading a team of officials from the education ministry, is presently at the St. Ignatius dorm school in Region 9 to deliver more materials to students and to examine ways in which they can better the delivery of education.”
So her current washing of hands is political gamesmanship of the highest order and is also reflected in the testimony of her own Chief Education Officer, Saddam Hussain whose sole purpose at the inquiry seemed to be to defend the actions of his ministry and minister, and despite being a public servant he unprofessionally blamed the coalition administration for the state of the dormitories.
He said that the regional executive and education officers of Potaro-Siparuni had failed to inform the Education Ministry of deficiencies at the Mahdia secondary school dorm. When asked why still nothing was done in light of the UNICEF report, Mr Hussein replied that “the Department of Education in Region Four has no say on how things should be in Region Eight as that region’s education department is entrusted with those responsibilities.” This was a cynically crafted response thought out long before his testimony but is truly laughable given that in the same breath he acknowledged that “as part of the education sector plan from 2021 to 2025 the Ministry of Education took a decision to take a look into the dorms. He added of course, to avoid any blame, that the UNICEF report did not have the Mahdia girls dorm in the Top Five as needing fixing.
But this is not the Billboard Top 100. This is life and death. The report stated very clearly that the “buildings have no central fire alarm/warning/management system. Some buildings have fire extinguishers in poor condition and absence of signage and inadequate placement.” That should have been at the top of his subsequent list. Not doing each dormitory one by one but fixing all the dormitories’ fire systems immediately.
It is also noteworthy that there is an annex to the UNICEF report that goes into greater detail and provides photographic evidence of the faulty equipment and deficiencies at the Mahdia dormitory. If the Commission is not already in receipt of this annex it should request a copy.
Mr Hussain went on to tell the commissioners how happy he was that “every single dormitory is outfitted with firefighting equipment and tools. I am happy to say that more than 70 per cent of all dorms have started rehabilitation or would have completed rehabilitation and… before the first quarter of next year, that would be completed.” It is good he is happy (after the fact and the deaths of 20 children) but just like his minister he appears to want to take credit when it suits him and pass the buck when it doesn’t.
Ultimately his own testimony established that the dormitories and the safety of the children within them was and is the responsibility of the Ministry of Education and therefore of Minister Priya Manickchand.
Her ministry requested the UNICEF report, she personally received the UNICEF report and her ministry passed the UNICEF report onto the relevant agencies including her own departments. As our Tuesday editorial stated, the CoI report is looking more and more like it will be another whitewash, the feeble result of a show trial in reverse meant to tidy up the narrative: that there is no one really to blame, that the deaths of these children was just a series of unfortunate events.
“Everyone did the best they could given the circumstances.”
Will the Commissioners acknowledge this was a tragedy that at its heart was the result of human error and neglect at the highest levels? Will anyone in Guyana ever be held accountable?