Dear Editor,
Eleven weeks have passed since the deadly fire that ripped through the dormitory at Mahdia on 22 May 2023, taking the lives of 20 young Indigenous students and injuring many others, plunging families, communities and a country into mourning. An Indigenous teenager has been charged with 20 counts of murder and is being held on remand. Six weeks have passed since the 28 June announcement of the appointment of Major-General (retired) Joe Singh to lead a Commission of Inquiry (COI) into the Mahdia fire.
In the intervening 6 weeks, parents of the 20 victims were made to sign a legal contract as having received G$5 Million (USD $25,000) as full and final compensation for the death-by-burning of their child(ren) in a government-built and run dormitory, in effect absolving the State of any further financial responsibility. In the intervening 6 weeks, the media also reported that the Regional Executive Officer gave permission for the charred remains of the dormitory be used to fill potholes on Mahdia’s roads.
It is difficult to find words to describe this situation. We are truly lost if a tragedy on the scale of Mahdia cannot provoke a truly national response. Where is the COI? Where are the terms of reference into the fire and the wider conditions at the school that led up to this tragedy? We also ask that the members of the COI be persons who are trusted by the affected communities and by the citizens of Guyana.
Sincerely,
Janette Bulkan
Danuta Radzik
Alissa Trotz
