The report on the Mahdia Secondary School female dormitory fire which claimed the lives of 20 students has been completed and will be submitted to President Irfaan Ali according to Secretary of the Presidential Commission of Inquiry (CoI), Javed Shadick.
Shadick told Stabroek News yesterday that the report was expected to be handed over to President Ali on Friday but was postponed to another date which is yet to be announced.
The Commission of Inquiry into the Mahdia fire concluded on November 9, with Counsel Keoma Griffith castigating Chief Fire Officer (ag) Gregory Wickham and former Regional Education Officer (ReDO) for Region Eight, Annesta Douglas, for their lack of urgency towards the dire need for fire prevention supplies at the Mahdia Secondary School dorm as was recommended in a fire inspection report by Sub-Officer Ryan Scott of the Mahdia Fire Station.
Griffith during his closing presentation, acknowledged that while he was constrained in his comments concerning the cause of the fire, the evidence before the commission, supported several findings. Namely, 1) the fire was not caused by electrical malfunctions associated with the building. 2) The cause of the fire was malicious, and 3) the fire was caused by an individual.
He added that supporting evidence reveals that the Mahdia secondary dorm was maliciously set on fire and that the act was committed by an individual.
The attorney-at-law noted that the factors outlined were sufficient for the inquiry to decide in light of these findings.
Sub-Officer Scott who is in charge of the Mahdia Fire station, submitted a report to both the Chief Fire Officer and former Regional Education Officer on February 7, after inspections were done on both the male and female dorms, which housed approximately 132 children along with the male and female dorm wardens.
In that report, Scott highlighted that the dorms lacked fire alarm systems, smoke detectors, exit signs, and insufficient fire extinguishers.
According to the Commission’s Counsel, before the time of the inferno which claimed 20 lives, disinterest was shown by Wickham concerning following up on whether the dorm was equipped with the proposed amenities.
Directing his attention to the former ReDO of Region Eight (Potaro/Siparuni), Griffith noted that the Regional Education Officer confirmed that she did receive the report which was delivered by Scott where he urged her that the report required an urgent response.
“Miss Douglas told the presidential inquiry into the Mahdia dormitory fire that she couldn’t review a key report submitted by the Guyana Fire Service (GFS) months before the blaze since she was given just one week’s notice to depart for Georgetown.”
Griffith contended that while he empathised with Douglas for the frustration and trauma she had endured due to her job reassignment, the former regional education officer could have found some way to inform her superiors of the report so that issues could have been ventilated and possibly resolved since the report was simply placed on her desk.
The report which highlighted the inadequacies at the Mahdia secondary school dormitory was deemed a matter of urgency by Scott, but the ReDO admitted that she did not read the report due to her preoccupation with other work-related tasks.
Griffith also informed that another report compiled by Scott on the state of the Mahdia Fire station at the time, and the urgent need for firefighting equipment and repairs to the fire tender saw little or no action being taken by the Fire Chief.
The attorney concluded that what Wickham and Douglas demonstrated was a dereliction of their duties.
The MoE/UNICEF Report
The inquiry’s counsel also directed the commission to the Ministry of Education’s (MoE) report funded by UNICEF on the state of dormitories in Guyana where 24 dormitories were listed for immediate remediation.
Griffith referenced that while the top five of the 24 dorms were dubbed as “major priorities,” appallingly, the Mahdia school dorm was not ranked as a “major priority” in the wake of its known deficiencies.
According to the terms of reference of the MoE/UNICEF report, the standards for dormitories are as follows:
• floor spacing per child/adult across all living quarters such as dining/sleeping/laundry and kitchen spaces, communal study area; sports facility; and living quarters for dormitory parents.
• Recommendations for the utilisation of green technologies; access to sustainable water resources and safe sanitation methods; and the usage of local materials and skills as well as photo voltaic solar power where possible.
• Human resources requirements for every aspect of dormitory life such as house parents; cooks; welfare officers/counsellors; and ancillary staff.
• Financial implications for meeting comprehensive standards across the dormitory plant.
The CoI was chaired by Major General (Rtd) Joe Singh and also included attorney-at-law Kim Kyte-Thomas and Chairman of the National Toshaos Council, Derrick John.
