Sunday night’s fire which razed the girls’ dormitory at the Mahdia Secondary School, taking 19 lives, leaving several injured, traumatising dozens, and spreading a streak of grief and pain across Karisparu, El Paso, Micobie and Chenapau, as well as all over this country was, from all accounts, a disaster waiting to happen. The fire itself may not have been preventable, given the quick conclusion by the Guyana Fire Service (GFS) on Monday that it was arson. People who are determined to burn things tend to find a way. The deaths, injuries and devastation, however, were absolutely avoidable. Those in authority at various levels should have had systems in place to preempt the loss of life. They have failed. Abysmally.
Who will be held responsible? At this point, only the arsonist(s) if he, she or they are ever found. The stage is already set for the blame to fly solely in that direction. That way, fingers are less likely to be pointed at the geniuses who felt there was nothing wrong with housing nearly 60 girls in what was essentially a fire trap and should also be held culpable.
Eyewitness statements from the heroes at the scene, who assisted in rescuing students, revealed that the heavy security grills on the building prevented some of the girls from getting out. Undoubtedly there was panic and confusion. Some students possibly succumbed to smoke inhalation even as they slept. What was obvious was that there was no fire alarm system, nor was any fire-preparedness instilled in the students. Clearly, in a country where electricity supply is chancy no one is envisioning the sophisticated alarms where sensors react to smoke and send signals directly to the fire department. However, a loud clanging bell accessible to any of the students who were first aware of the fire would have also been effective in reducing the loss of life, if not saving them all.
What is even more distressing is that this was not the first school fire and definitely not the first dormitory fire where loss of life occurred. On August 31, 2008, a fire broke out in the girls’ dorm at Waramadong Secondary School. Three of the 12 students there at the time – Eleven-year-old Zanita Sam, 13-year-old Savylin David, and 13-year-old Sharmileza George, all of Kubenang, Upper Mazaruni in Region Seven (Cuyuni/Mazaruni) – perished in its wake. The entire building, which had no electricity, was destroyed.
Twelve days later, the GFS was able to confirm that the fire was caused by an unattended candle. Investigators surmised that the students had lit the candle to unpack and settle in for the opening of school the next day, but had fallen asleep without putting it out. At the time, questions had been raised, but never answered, about whether the dorm matron, who was also there, had checked on the girls that night to ensure they were all in bed, especially since some of them were attending boarding school for the first time. There were claims, which were denied, that the students had been locked in, precluding their escape. The full results of an investigation into this fire were never released, as Mr Shaik Baksh, who was the education minister at the time, had pronounced that he would only do so if it was “warranted”. Anything anyone could have learned about missteps in the Waramadong fire that could have been avoided in the future was therefore kept under wraps.
In December 2007, the boys’ dormitory of the Bartica Secondary School also in Region Seven, was completely destroyed in a fire of unknown origin. All of the 26 boys housed there at the time had managed to escape unharmed, but had lost almost all of their belongings. There was no Fire Station at Bartica back then, but officers from the city had later travelled to the community to investigate what caused the conflagration. The results of that investigation were also not made public.
While there was no loss of life in the Bartica school fire, surely there was trauma, disruption of studies and financial loss. The building was said to be valued $10 million and its contents another $3 million. Those had to be replaced. Cognisant of this, systems ought to have been put in place for fire precautions at all school dorms; yet, less than a year later, three young girls died in a boarding school fire in the same region. Everything pointed to no lessons being learnt from the previous disaster.
Fast forward to Sunday last and the Mahdia tragedy became a stark reminder of what occurs when those in authority fail to be proactive, or allow systems to lapse. Rushing in after the fact, offering prayers and sympathy, while the right thing to do, cannot replace the lives lost. Nor can it excuse not placing the utmost priority on the safety of children entrusted by their parents to our institutions of learning.
President Irfaan Ali has fittingly declared a period of mourning for Adanye Jerome, Mary Dandrade, Martha Dandrade, Loreen Evans, Belnisa Evans, Delecia Edwards, Arriana Edwards, Tracil Thomas, Lisa Roberts, Lorita Williams, Natalie Bellarmine, Cleoma Simon, Subrina John, Omerfia Edwin, Nickleen Robinson, Sherena Daniels, Eulanda Carter, Andrea Roberts and Rita Jeffrey. However, even as we mourn, we owe it to these lost lights to question the decisions or lack thereof that placed them and others at risk.
Are all school buildings and dormitories up to fire code? Are fire safety education and fire drills still mandatory? How often are they carried out? In light of the fact that sensor alarms and sprinklers probably will not work in the hinterland owing to electricity issues, is there an alternative alarm system in place? If not, why not? Given that heavy iron grills are known to be death traps during fires, who is ultimately responsible for the security at school dorms? Does the Ministry of Education still have a schools’ inspection unit? If yes, how often are schools and dorms assessed? If no, why not? These are questions that must be answered and failings that have to be rectified as we move forward.
