A huge fire sparked by channa bombs completely destroyed the Ministry of Health’s main building at Brickdam and an annex early yesterday morning, devouring decades-old records, vehicles and a string of key divisions in a major blow to the health sector.
The raging inferno erupted some time before 3 am and rumbled on for three hours amid a downpour and a valiant campaign by the Guyana Fire Service to save three buildings in the ministry’s southern wing and its immediate neighbour, the Guyana Geology and Mines Commission (GGMC).
The conflagration levelled the offices of two ministers, permanent secretary, chief medical officer and administrative staff, the Registry, Disease Control Unit, Adolescent Health Unit, Tobacco Control Unit, Standards Department and a section of the Accounts Department in ruins.
The Ministry of Health maintained records for health professionals and from health centres across the country. It was also housing some records for the Georgetown Public Hospital Corporation. However, a portion of the records destroyed were computerized and can be retrieved from a back-up system which was saved.
The police in a statement last night said that patrols arrived at the scene at about five minutes after a report had been made to 911 and saw the top flat of the main building engulfed in flames.
Fire ripping away at the main building at the Ministry of Health and an annex. (Photograph by Brenon Sookram)
“On checking around the compound they discovered a large bottle along with what smelt like a flammable substance with channa and a wick. Further checks were made around the compound and two security guards were seen. They alleged that they saw smoke at the top flat of the building and raised an alarm. A third guard was later found at the Hadfield Street entrance and he alleged that he had gone to release vehicles from the compound into Hadfield Street.
“The main building was extensively burnt, also four vehicles in the compound were damaged. A room in a building south east of the main building was scorched. The louvre windows were discovered damaged and pieces of glass and channa were found on the inside and outside of the building.
A distressed Dr. Leslie Ramsammy, Minister of Health surveying the scene yesterday morning. (Photo by Brenon Sookram)
“Several items inside the room such as condoms and medical equipment were damaged. The damage was not caused by the fire emanating from the main building. In fact the fire from the main building never reached that building.
“A further search of the compound unearthed a bag with two complete bottles with a suspected flammable substance, wicks and channa and three broken bottles with channa.
“Up to this afternoon fire service personnel and police ranks were still combing the scene”, the police said.
Two of the buildings spared were handed over to the ministry for use but a third is still under investigation after an explosive device was linked to the building.
Questions have since been raised about security and where exactly the security officers on duty were at the time of the alleged attack. There are also concerns as to the reaction time of the officers and how soon the fire service was alerted.
Health Minister Dr Leslie Ramsammy seemed assured yesterday that after the police completed their investigative work it would be found that there had been security breaches. He said security has always been a problem for the ministry, adding that only recently a new firm had been contracted.
He said the health sector is often at the centre of threats whenever there is unrest in the country adding that whenever there is protest action people would pass and throw remarks such as, “you’re next” in reference to the ministry. But there had been no such threats in the past few months, he said.
According to the minister, if the ministry was directly targeted, “it is sad and despicable” because the ministry does not belong to a political party or one group.
The Ministry of Health building on Brickdam alight early yesterday morning shortly after flames erupted in the upper flat. (Iana Seales photo)
Ramsammy declared that the Ministry of Health is the property of the people of Guyana and that it serves a public good, and he questioned why anyone would want to make that ministry a target or any other ministry.
“Why this ministry? Why the Ministry of Housing or why any building?” he asked yesterday recalling that a fire had also destroyed the housing ministry on Homestretch Avenue a few years ago.
He also dismissed questions pointing to recent allegations surrounding him saying that there can be no possible link to the fire.
“Let us not go stretching and looking for a story that is not there. It is an absurd story… I am done with that,” the minister said.
Ramsammy called the press conference at the National AIDS Programme Secretariat (NAPS) to say that the work of his ministry continues. He said the ministry is not intimidated and was focused on being fully operational again by next Monday.
No chance
It is unclear at what time the fire service was alerted about the fire but when the first tender arrived at the scene the ministry was already engulfed in flames and “well on its way” to burning flat, according to a fireman at the scene. He said that the ministry had no chance of surviving the blaze even with the greatest of efforts.
Deputy Fire Chief Winston McGregor in an interview at the scene told reporters that the first of five fire tenders deployed to the scene started rolling from the central base within seconds of the call, but turned up and met a building well ablaze.
However, he said the fire service’s operational strategy was put in place to contain the blaze, adding that firemen fought hard to reduce the damage.
McGregror told reporters at the scene that the fire service would have been able to do
A view of the eastern section of the Ministry of Health as it burned yesterday morning. (Iana Seales photo)
much more in terms of a response had it been notified earlier.
“The men worked well,” he said while noting that his comments can be termed as subjective.
A flaming early morning sky and thick smoke covered the upper half of Brickdam at around 3:15 am when Stabroek News arrived on the scene. The fire service was already in firefighting mode and had surrounded the ministry using Brickdam and Hadfield streets.
Brickdam and its environs were blanketed in darkness following a power cut, illuminated only by the fire gutting the building. An intense heat drove back curious onlookers, barring anyone from proceeding beyond the Independence Arch at the head of Brickdam yet a handful of determined residents pressed forward to get a closer look.
The old wooden superstructure of the ministry started to disintegrate within some 30 minutes of the fire; the eastern section caved in first. It was about 3:40 am when the eastern section housing Ramsammy’s office among others collapsed.
With manpower of close to 50 and generators pumping water from the Brickdam and Hadfield Street drains, the fire service moved swiftly and after an hour was able to reduce the threat to neighbouring buildings and the southern wing.
Residents eager to assist charged into the ministry’s compound from the Hadfield Street gate and jumped right into fire-fighting mode. Other residents realized that the vehicles in the compound were at risk and immediately started a mad rush to save them.
The scene was a chaotic one as employees of the ministry who had gathered at the scene and residents in the area rushed to clear the compound of vehicles. Keys which are usually stored at the security hut in the compound were missing, forcing the staff to push several vehicles out of the compound.
Ramsammy yesterday confirmed that the ministry had lost three fairly new vehicles assigned to the National Blood Transfusion Service, which were in the western section of the compound, but he said they managed to save 50 other vehicles.
Emotional
Ramsammy gave a brief interview at 4:10 am when the fire had already destroyed the main and annex buildings. He told reporters that it was difficult to watch the buildings go down and feel helpless at the same time.
He recalled leaving the office at 10 pm on Thursday along with his driver and two secretaries only to receive a call later that the ministry was burning.
Since he was the last employee at the ministry to leave Ramsammy has been asked to provide a statement to the police. He said yesterday that his driver and his two secretaries would also give statements.
“I wish I was there, but don’t know what I would have done anyway,” Ramsammy said shrugging his shoulders. He was being comforted every few minutes by staff and colleague ministers who arrived on the scene as the word spread.
Public Service Minister Dr Jennifer Westford was among the first to show up followed by Human Services Minister Priya Manickchand. Some time after Home Affairs Minister Clement Rohee and Culture Minister Dr Frank Anthony turned up.
Ramsammy appeared to have been doing okay though he looked distressed, but shortly after during another on-the-spot interview with reporters he broke down.
Teary-eyed and visibly emotional Ramsammy pointed to the burning building and said, “My life’s work is in there. A lifetime of work is in there”. He referred to the fire as a significant setback, but vowed that the ministry’s work “must continue”.
Shaking his head and with his eyes lowered the minister called the fire a tragedy saying that its impact is devastating. He noted he had been minister of health for ten years.
The Health Ministry was one of the few surviving structures considered part of the national heritage of the country. The building had once housed Queen’s College.
Support
Ramsammy mentioned that he had received a tremendous amount of support within hours of the fire saying that everyone seemed genuinely affected. He said yesterday that the staff of the ministry has been “focused and committed to the process of moving forward” from the minute they realized that the ministry was no more.
Firefighters and residents pushing a vehicle to safety from the Ministry of Health compound while the fire raged early yesterday morning. (Photo by Brenon Sookram)
He said he had received calls from donor partners and technical partners in and outside the country. Specifically, he noted that he received calls from Dr Margaret Chan, Director General of the World Health Organisation and Michel Sidibé, Executive Director of UNAIDS.
He said too that telephone calls also came from colleague ministers in the Caribbean all expressing solidarity. Ramsammy said that he was moved by the support, but he was particularly touched when ordinary citizens made contact to say how affected they were.
At the press briefing, he disclosed that he was meeting with technical and donor partners in the afternoon to discuss a way forward and to “begin the work of rebuilding the ministry of health”.
‘I saw smoke’
Stabroek News spoke with one of the security officers on duty at the time and the woman recalled seeing smoke some time after 2 am coming from the top flat of the building. She was at the security hut at the main entrance of the ministry and according to her, no flames were visible at that time.
“I only see smoke; so I call the base and tell them call the fire service,” she recounted.
She was a bit flustered but related that two other security personnel were at the back of the building making routine checks when the fire broke out. According to her, efforts to locate the other officers later proved futile.
However, at his press conference Ramsammy said there were only two security guards. He could not say if the guards had also been questioned by the police.
Some of the unexploded channa bombs retrieved in the compound of the Ministry of Health. (Police photo)
The woman insisted that she saw nothing strange on Brickdam saying that she had no idea what the other security officers saw while making checks at the back. She was unable to say how soon the fire service arrived after she contacted her security base.
The People’s Progressive Party (PPP) released a statement yesterday saying that it was saddened by the destruction of the building and concerned at the initial evidence that pointed to the work of arsonists and terrorists.
The party said the building was one of the nation’s beautiful pieces of architectural heritage and called on the security forces to thoroughly investigate the incident and bring the perpetrator/s to justice.
Additionally, the party said that the fire has coincided with “attempts by some fringe elements to try to heat up the political situation.
“The demonstrations and provocations of the police were no doubt deliberate to court arrest in the hope of gaining support. It appears to have been intentionally designed to create an atmosphere for arson and terrorism in the society,” the statement said.
Meanwhile Opposition Leader Robert Corbin speaking yesterday on the incident said the nation could ill afford such destruction at this time.
Speaking at the People’s National Congress Reform (PNCR) weekly press briefing, Corbin told reporters that he was unaware of the origin of the fire, but noted that other mysterious fires had haunted other government buildings and ministries over the years.
He also expressed hope that the fire is investigated thoroughly.
hahahahahha, oh boy, what a joke…..
Its literally IMPOSSIBLE for anyone (unless you are he incredible hulk)to throw a Channa bomb into the Ministry of Health’s building from any direction…here is why….
The entrance on Brickdam have a 24 hour armed security and the distance from the road to the building is about 100 meters therefore the guard will see anyone who throws or attempts to throw anything into the compound and would be able to apprehend them if they do.
The eastern side of the building (Cuffy’s side) is about a good 200 meters alone from Vlissengen Road so u gotta be eating your Wheaties to even make a cricket ball touch parking lot if you threw it…so not even a channa bomb can make it there.
The Hadfield Street entrance has the same if not more security so it could have never happened from there and besides if someone did try that area is very lively and anyone would see plus u still gotta be very strong to let it touch the building.
The Guyana Geologies and Mines Commission is situated on the western side of the building and if u think you can pass their security with all the gold they have in there them you would have been pumping bullets out of your chest right now.
The only alternative that this build could have been channa bombed is if the culprit had an helicopter and released it from above of if it was left in the building by someone or if the fire was deliberate and the channa bomb bottles were left there to throw us off beside looking at this inferno how DE HELL THESE CHANNA BOTTLES SURVIVED..HUH????
In full support of your analysis. Someone is looking for mercy perhaps. Who ever it is think that people dumb as they are. A blind man can see that the job is an inside one. It was a deliberate act. Stop trying to fool the people. Jumbie politics will not work. Time for a change.
These are the words of an ex-soldier! Pathetic, no wonder the country is in such a chaotic state.
The channa bombs were in the compound and were thrown from inside,the guard at the gate said the two other gaurds were making rounds and if we should take your analysis of the compound and the perimeter well then three guards are not sufficient.Sometimes i do wonder if you ever went to Sandhurst.
excellent observation…..and if them had to throw it hard…..how come so many(in picture) not broken???? was plastic bottles????if it was….that would make it harder to throw it far….them think people stupid….
Sandy your long awaited comment has finally arrived. i did not dare to comment while the whole of Guyana was still asleep and seeing that I am not quite familiar with the location I awaited comments from the open-minded and intelligent Guyanese…Boy! looking at the picture and trying to think logically I gathered my own conclusion. This had to be an INSIDE JOB….NEVER KNEW CHANNA BOM EXISTED….Would like to know if CHANNA BOM has a REMOTE CONTROLE? and as you mentioned, HOW IN GODS NAME CAN ONE GET PASS THE GUARDS TO LIGHT THE BOMS?
Sandurst I am with you on that ,but you will have a job to convince those “stuck in the mud!
DEZE TANTE
Do you look at cartoon network? There is a character named SPEEDY GONZALES. The fastest mouse in all Mexico. I guess he was at work there. That is the only logical explanation that can be given there.
i can see stupidity but these assumption are the killer, documents can easily be taken out and destroy.
well the anti govt critics must have their highs.
Hey Stabroek News! Come on now, Where is my comment about the possibility Voodoo (or, was it “Heavenly Fire” like the case when “Moses” and the Hebrew Children were being pursued by the Egyptian Army when they were about to cross the Red Sea according to that Biblical Story….
Anyone remember these words – “Behold His Mighty Hands”
Is there a public statement from the Chief Fire Officer, the only true and acknowledged expert in an event of this nature, about the probable cause? We need to hear directly and undiluted from him.
A full investigation needs to be done, the security guards needs to be grilled about what they say while doing their routine checks, i emphatized with the minister, but he have to know that everything that happens in guyana has it’s political origins sorry to say that but it’s the truth.
I hope you and Benschop (I understand his now on bail is available for lawful picketing) will picket about this siege on the health of the Guyanese people amen-ra
The PPP quite intelligently concluded they are seeing a terrorist attack. They went on in a moment of inspiration to conclude that the fire has coincided with “attempts by some fringe elements to try to heat up the political situation.
SN moderator would normally axe such statements from fellow bloggers but now this is THE reality.
The plain truth is that “The demonstrations and provocations of the police were no doubt deliberate TO COURT ARREST in the hope of gaining support. It appears to have been intentionally designed to create an atmosphere for arson and terrorism in the society,” .
Way to go PPP! This is an incredible insight.
The limp wrested reaction from the PNC: The nation could ill afford such destruction at this time (presumably it would have been quite OK at some other time).
You don’t say Mr Corben!
well all de experts had their say yesterday …watchmen saw nutin heard nutin is de order of de day::::::::::::
a sick feelin comes to mind dat “slo fiah and mo fiah” is at wok hey……….
Evileyes, yuh dealing with barbarians at work here in destroying and harming the interests of all the people of Guyana. “More Fyah and slow yah” .Did the person who uttered this have any brains ?
Barbarians and idiots indeed Red Rover. Whoever committed this act committed travesty against the people of Guyana.
New to the scene. Can anyone please explain what ’slo fiah’ ‘mo fiah’ is. I am not trying to be fecetious. I really want to know.
shut up evileyes, it was Desmond Hoyte who had said that and he is DEAD how many years now, no other PNC officials had ever made that statement apart from him…and as for you Reddy in Barbados u eh knw wat goin on so stay out u eh a Guyanese so u wouldnt knw wat it means
I invite you to do research on”Slow Fire”,the words we chose to spell using Guyanese creole “slo fiah”. You will find that the poetic significance of the terms is beyond the minds of simpletons to analyse.The person or persons who uttered these words in Guyana’s context understood perfectly the results of visionless and inept leadership of the kind Guyana has experienced over the last 14 years.
Really sad
I told you guys a while back somebody should have been playing the song somebody call 911 shawty burnin fiah on the dance floor.
Slow fiya, mo fiya! I keep saying Guyana have to fix its social cohesion problem first before we can do anything else.
It is sad that a social sector Ministry was targeted since there are many applications in that building for persons to get funding for medical operations and now it all have to start again. Some people will die because of this.
£25 million from the Government will not solve the problem, getting the Police and the Army to protect Government buildings will not solve the problem, meeting the people and truly (not superficially) understanding their problems is the solution. Understanding that when you say to the people you will build 3 sport complexes in Berbice, Essequibo and Linden; you then build it! The National Stakeholder consultation was an excellent start so what next with that process?
Rather than pushing the Low Carbon Initiatives, why not try our hands at Social Cohesion?
You have made an excellent point. We all need to work hard at social cohesion.Destroying public property will hurt all but most of all the poor. It is not the first time that arson is directed at public property to make a point. The sixties right up to the late seventies saw Guyana suffering deliberate destruction of its infrastructure by the disaffected among us. Our leaders need to move from behind the partisan walls they help create and lead in a bold move to achieve social cohesion.The process will require significant changes in attitude by many of our leaders.
Shut up wit u encouraging him with his nonsesne….put it to rest
If you think Social Cohesion is that easy to achieve just try walking the streets in Guyana with your suit and few pieces of gold jewelry,it’s so easy to call the shots when you are not in the game.Just try connecting with the ordinary and poor Guyanese people.
Well said, Marc. Sase is day-dreaming.
His social cohesion would have to include 100 percent of the population. An impossibility.
It only takes just one evil person with a bottle of petrol/gas with a rag stuffed into the top…. Oh, I forgot… and a box of matches.
Sase, define social cohesion. After you do so I may be interested in responding to your blog. It is very interesting that you always begin your blogs by using the following words: “Slow fiya, mo fiya! Are you a firemen? Would you like to be a firemen? ISNM
Guyana needs CCTV at all Government premises. No matter which party you support nor what motives you have, destroying public property is a hideous crime! The Police should seek to apprehend these people asap and make them an example. Public order is being compromised here…
Police?? Guyana still got that??
You may need to reign in the thoughts,words and deeds of many of our elected leaders in the process. Most definitely the strategy for implementation of the current development plan will have to be revisited to ensure inclusivity!
What a shameful and despicable act indeed.
Who the hell is so darn stupid as to burn down this ministry? Like the Minister inferred, this is the peoples ministry..
Is this the way we intend to move forward in the 21st century? Must we show the world how primitive and simplistic our political minds are?
Is this the kind of thing that would make Dr. King and Mr. Gandhi proud?
What a profound loss for our country. It would be a good thing if we can get to the bottom of this, but I am not too optimistic.
Terrorism is high on the next general election’s maifesto. No! Not how to beat the terrorist, for to BEAT them would be against their human rights, LoveGT4Real.
No! LoveGT4Real, terrorism will be the means which some will use to contest the next general election.
This is just another refuelling stop for petrol on the highway to Guyana’s wretched future.
It is quite understandable that the Barbadians and many others are laughing their heads off at our primitive behaviour. Looks like they will not be disappointed because our president has just offered a reward of $25milllion to apprehend the criminals……….
So that, one presumes he can offer a Presidential Pardon to them in good faith so that they mend their ways.
It’s a mad world for the poor, poor Guyanese.
U right about that Satish
Jagdeo and the PPP have clearly brought this country to lows no one ever imagined in 17 or 50 years.
Why would anyone want to destroy a building, anyway? Is it to send a message or is it to destroy evidence?
What does Corbin mean by “ill afford such distruction at this time.” Can we afford it at all, at any other time? This act of arson is very disheartening and does not auger well for the future.
I was wondering the same thing about his remarks.
Bullseye, EX GDF OFFICER! I WAS SHOCKED WHEN THE HEAD OF THE PNC QUALIFIED HIS COMMENT WITH …….”at this time”
Mouth open, story jump out!