A fire late last evening destroyed a Land of Canaan, East Bank Demerara, factory belonging to the Roop Group company.
A flat building at the centre of the compound which houses the caretaker and his family was left untouched.

The factory, which used to produce plantain and cassava chips among other items had ceased operations a while back but electrical appliances were stored in it, the caretaker Jagdesh Persaud said when this newspaper visited the site.

The man did not allow the press inside the compound because his superiors told him not to; but he told this newspaper that he and his two daughters were sound asleep in their house in the centre of the compound when he awoke to explosive sounds around 11:30 pm.

The destroyed buildings at the Roop Group compound at Land of Canaan.

He said that when he looked outside the whole building was already ablaze. He said he woke up his daughters and took them to the northern fence and put them into another yard.

He called on his neighbour who then attempted to save items before the building burned completely. Persaud said that the fire service came some 45 minutes after he woke up although he was not the one to call them. He said he has no idea what could have started the fire.

Stabroek News spoke to a woman who lives on the southern side of the compound. She said  she was not at home at the time but arrived when the firemen were trying to save the building.

Stabroek News learnt that the factory belongs to Peter Ramsaroop, CEO of Roop Group, civil society activist and columnist, but he could not be reached for comment and persons at his office said they were  not commenting on the matter.

When this newspaper was still in the area, several members of an insurance company showed up to assess the fire damage.