Dear Editor,
These are some questions addressed to Commissioners Joseph Singh, Derrick John and Joycelin Kim-Kyte Thomas which are not apparently covered by the 3-month-long Commission of Inquiry (CoI) into the Mahdia dormitory fire
Dear Commissioners
We refer to your Report dated January 2024 on the fire that engulfed the dormitory for girls in Mahdia, Region 8, on 21 May 2023. We continue to mourn the loss of 20 children who perished while under the State’s care.
We are concerned by your assertion – ‘we concluded that an individual intentionally set the fire’ (p. 6). Since the Commission of Inquiry was not a Court of Law receiving evidence, and since you claim to have received confidential evidence during closed sessions, your Report has patently created bias against a child, and without disclosing any supporting evidence. This is unacceptable.
Noting in Article 7 of the Commission of Inquiry Act, cap.19:03, 1933/1997: “It shall be the duty of the commissioners, after taking such oath or affirmation, to make a full, faithful, and impartial inquiry into the matter specified in such commission”, we request answers to several substantial areas that remain unaddressed in your report. We ask that you inform the public why the following questions were not covered during the 3-months-long Commission of Inquiry (CoI).
A. The dormitory for female students at the Mahdia secondary school
A1 When was the dormitory built? To what published standards of construction? Who had the building contract? Who was the supervising engineer?
A2 What materials were used for interior lining of the walls and for the ceiling? Were these materials sold as flameproofed? Where and when were these linings cleaned/maintained/replaced?
A3 When was the dormitory building last inspected, apart from the Fire Service check in February 2023?
A4 Who controls the budget for construction and maintenance of State schools?
A5 Where are the published accounts on the original construction, and on all repairs and maintenance?
A6 Where are the lists of requests for materials for repairs and maintenance? What was done about each list, when and by whom?
A7 Where is the report by the Fire Service on a forensic study of the dormitory fire of May 2023?
A8 Why was there no formal Coroner’s Inquest into the 20 deaths in the dormitory fire?
B. Ministry of Education/Ministry of Local Government
B1 Why did the Minister of Education commission a second study in September 2021 when the Ministry already had the Ed Caesar report commissioned in 2015 and delivered to the Ministry of Education on 28 April 2017? Why did the Minister of Education not immediately implement the recommendations of the Caesar report as the CoI noted there was already a gap of three years in which nothing had been done?
B2 If dormitories in 24 State secondary schools could be rehabilitated for GYD 3 billion according to the Deen Engineers report to the Ministry of Education of 24 May 2022, why did the Ministry of Education not apply immediately for either Contingency Fund money or a supplementary budget, given the urgency expressed by Deen? At least three Financial Papers were prepared for the Minister of Finance in 2022 in support of the supplementary budgets of that year. The total budget for the year 2022 was GYD 552.9 billion, while only GYD 3 billion could have rehabilitated those dormitories. There does not appear to have been any shortage of money.
B3 Why did the Cabinet allocate only GYD 882 million to the Ministry of Education in 2022 to implement the Deen report? Or did the Cabinet allocate more but the government insisted on a rapid response and the remaining spend could not be organised?
C. Regional Executive Officer/Regional Educational Officer
C1. Where was the House supervisor/House mother for the Mahdia female dormitory before and during the fire on 23 May 2023? – The CoI does not appear to have interviewed her, and does not report on her presence or absence during the evening of that day after the reported altercation with one student.
D. Fire Service
D1 How much money was allocated for equipment of the Mahdia fire station, in which budget? How much was actually spent and on what?
D2 Who was responsible for equipment supply to the Mahdia fire station before the arrival of staffer Ryan Scott in July 2022?
D3 Why was the decrepit fire tender not replaced after the reports submitted to the Chief Fire Officer in August 2022?
D4 Why did the Fire Service not apply immediately for either Contingency Fund money or a supplementary budget to equip the Mahdia fire station and to replace the decrepit fire tender in September 2022?
D5 Why did the CoI report not mention that the bowser for the Mahdia fire station was away in Lethem ‘to assist with preparations for the National Independence Flag Raising Ceremony on May 25’ on the critical day of 21 May 2023? The photograph in the Demerara Waves article shows the bowser washing the streets of Lethem. Which is more important: remaining present in Mahdia to protect people or road cleaning in Lethem?
E. CoI report
E1 This report has obvious gaps in its response to the poorly-drafted terms of reference provided after a 3-months’ delay by the Office of the President. Why were there no technical experts appointed to or interviewed by the Commission of Inquiry, as provided for in section 10 of the Commissions of Inquiry Act?
E2 Did the 3-person CoI team read the Phase 1 report on the Grenfell Tower fire in London? That fire occurred on 14 June 2017, the Commission of Inquiry was ordered on 15 June and created on 28 June 2017, and the Phase 1 report was issued publicly on 30 October 2019. The Grenfell Tower report is a model report on how to conduct an official Inquiry into such a disaster, when the concerns of the affected families were at last addressed in culturally appropriate ways. This report was highly critical of the London Fire Brigade for poor organisation and decision-making.
E3 The sections on issues and recommendations in the final pages of the report of the Mahdia CoI contain some information and allegations not mentioned in or supported by the body of the report. These sections should be withdrawn or re-written to a professional standard matching the human rights accorded in Guyana’s National Constitution.
Signatories
Vincent Adams
Alfred Bhulai
Andre Brandli
Janette Bulkan
Immaculata Casimero
Darsh Khusial
GHK Lall
Joe Persaud
Vanda Radzik
Charles Sugrim
Charlene Wilkinson
