Fire victims at Mahdia, Region Eight (Potaro/Siparuni), yesterday received some much needed cheer from Digicel Guyana when a team of staffers visited the village and gave the fire victims free telephones, cash donations and other essential items. The Digicel team comprised of Chief Executive Officer Mr. Gregory Dean, Recharge Executive Officer Ms. Shaunette McAllister,  and Customer Care Representative Sean Jackman.
Dean told the Chronicle that Digicel Guyana considered the donations yesterday as a gesture of short term relief .
The Company, he said, was prepared to give further assistance to the fire victims when the plans for their recovery are finalized.
During the visit yesterday, the team handed over a cheque to Regional Chairman Senor Bell covering  disbursement of the sum of $10,000  for each of the families hard hit by the fire.
Bell said that the monies will be disbursed to the families by the Probation and Social Services Officer of the Administration.
The team also handed over several  kerosene oil stoves to the Regional Administration for use by the homeless.
The most appreciated gifts, however, were the Coral 200 solar powered cell phones.
Some of the victims said that they had been unable to save their cell phones from the blaze and were therefore grateful for a free one from Digicel.
Dean said that the Company was moved to assist the Mahdia fire victims because of the enormity of the disaster.
He disclosed that the Company was collaborating with the Guyana Gold and Diamond Miners Association (GGDMA) with the aim of giving further assistance when plans for reconstruction of the arcade and housing of the homeless are concretized.
During the presentations, Probation and Social Services Officer of Region Eight , Mrs. Jacqueline Wilson, disclosed that the fire had destroyed 27 buildings  with losses amounting to $125M.
Sixty-seven persons had sought and were receiving accommodation, meals and other forms of support from the Administration of the Region yesterday.
Bell said that a team from the Ministry of Housing was expected to visit Mahdia  this week to discuss how and where the displaced are to be housed.
The Region, in collaboration with Central Government, was also looking at the reconstruction of the arcade and conditions for its future use.
The flames, last Thursday, destroyed the small business places, some of them two storeyed buildings, and left 150 people homeless.

Less than 24 hours after, a Cabinet team, led by Prime Minister Samuel Hinds (performing the functions of the Office of President) and Ministers Robeson Benn, Kellawan Lall and Dr. Jennifer Westford flew into the area and conducted a damage assessment and needs analysis, which led to a number of immediate interventions.
These included emergency shelter arrangements at the community’s school dormitory and a few urgently required necessities, including drinking water, tents and cots, which were airlifted from the warehouse of the Civil Defence Commission.
Additionally, Minister Westford disbursed $10,000 to each  homeless family, in an effort to provide some financial independence and the Prime Minister committed $500,000 on behalf of Government to be spent on immediate relief for the affected.

Aid has since flowed from many other sources, among them Ministries of Works and Local Government, Guyana Geology and Mines Commission (GGMC), Youth Challenge International, United Nations Children’s Fund (UNICEF) and Guyana Relief Council (GRC).
Meanwhile some of the businessmen who had lost their business places expressed eagerness to get back to their locations.
“We want to start to clean up to rebuild and to get back into business. We would like to get back our spots urgently so we can get on with our livelihoods,”  a spokesman, Gerald Rawlins,  said.
He said that himself and others were anxiously awaiting word from the Regional Administration as to when they can start to clean up.
“Myself and others developed  this place  years ago, when it was merely a swamp and a dumping ground, and we are looking forward to regaining access to it without any unnecessary restrictions,” he said.