Latest update March 29th, 2024 12:59 AM
Sep 11, 2009 News
By Fareeza Haniff
The Ministry of Education suffered what appears to be a significant loss in the wee hours of yesterday morning, when one of its branches went up in flames.
A three-storey edifice at Plantain Walk, West Bank Demerara, was the site of the conflagration, which attracted residents who were awakened by the sharp, crackling sounds caused by the fire, and which is believed to have been electrical in nature, as there was reportedly an unstable supply of power in the area at the time.
The setback comes at a time when the Ministry is currently observing Education Month.
The security guard who was on duty at the time the fire is said to have started, Jermaine Mahaica, told Kaieteur News that he went into work at 21:00 hrs on Wednesday, and observed that there were frequent fluctuations in the area. “The power jus’ keep going on and off,” the man recounted
He added that at around 02:20 hrs yesterday he heard an explosion and within minutes, the building went up in flames.
“I hear ‘placks, placks’ in the building and I see the wire sparking… and then the fire started… but it could happen from a GPL problem because the current was going on and off,” Mahaica said.
He added that he immediately telephoned the Fire Station in Leonora, along with the Guyana Power and Light Company (GPL), and informed them of the situation.
However, at the said time, the fire service personnel were busy putting out another fire in the Crane Housing Scheme area. As such, they had to leave that house which was on fire to render their services to the Education Ministry edifice.
According to Mahaica, the fire service responded promptly to the call, and did their best to save the building.
As it relates to GPL, he said that by the time they arrived on the scene the building was already engulfed in flames, and the most they could have done was to cut off the electricity supply to the immediate environs.
“I tried to get the fire service to respond to see how fast they could save the building because there are a lot of important documents in the building,” Mahaica told this publication.
Meanwhile, a number of regional officials, including Minister within the Education Ministry, Dr. Desrey Fox, visited the site yesterday morning to assess the situation.
Dr. Fox told media operatives that despite the fire, the Ministry will continue all activities planned for Education Month. She added that the ministry is currently in the process of sorting out temporary alternative locations for the number of employees who worked in the building.
THIS IDIOT TELLING GUYANA WE HAVE NO SAY IN THE 50% PROFIT SHARING AGREEMENT WE HAVE WITH EXXON.
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