A vendor is now counting her losses as her entire business was gutted in Wednesday night’s fire at the Mackenzie Market.
Cindy Allen, the daughter of the 65-year-old vendor, told Stabroek News yesterday that her mother has been vending at the Mackenzie Market for more than fifteen years. Although they are unware of the source of the fire and now await the authorities to indicate after they conclude their investigation, Allen said her mother is now left counting millions in losses. “We are trying to see how best we can recover at the moment”. She declined to comment further.
Region 10 chairman, Deron Adams said that Linden currently has 1 fire station and fire tender.
“We have been calling for the fire department to be upgraded, as well as for fire hydrants to be installed within the commercial zone and for a new fire station to be constructed on the Wismar bank”, he said, adding that they have identified a piece of land at Wisroc but received no favourable response from the central government.
He added that it was a heartbreaking scene to witness but he is still thankful for the fire service’s quick response.
“It’s heartbreaking to know that so many businesses were at risk in the midst of this disaster. I’m happy that our firefighters responded swiftly to the location and were able to contain the fire and protect as much as possible. My thoughts are with everyone affected by this unfortunate incident”.
Both the mayor, Sharma Solomon and deputy mayor, Dominque Blair, said that they learnt while on the ground that the fire was “allegedly” electrical in nature. Blair said that the market will be under assessment to check the wiring and electricity throughout. He added that they had contacted the Linden Electric Company to do an assessment of the entire market and fix the electrical issues.
Mayor Solomon said they have also contacted GWI and the fire service to install hydrants within the markets but still nothing has been done.
