COLLIN Jones and his co-conspirator, Clayton Westford, were both sentenced to 60 months imprisonment yesterday, for deliberately setting the fire that destroyed the Ministry of Health, Brickdam, Georgetown complex, four years ago.

Magistrate Judy Latchman imposed the custodial penalty after hearing final prosecution and defence submissions.
The two men were convicted on Monday, June 17, of the arson committed between July 16 and 17, 2009, after the court found that a prima facie case had been made out against them, despite a no-case submission by defence counsel, Michael Somersall, who represented Westford.
Police Sergeant, Vishnu Hunt, prosecuting, called former Minister of Health, Dr. Leslie Ramsammy to testify yesterday, when he said the flattened building was more than one hundred years old and had been the original Queen’s College (QC), which was taken over by the Government to be the Ministry of Health in the 1950s.
Ramsammy said the estimated value of the burnt complex is between  $1.2 and $1.3 billion and some of the lost records were related to human resources and others about people working at hospitals, professional examinations, the Guyana Nursing, Medical and Pharmacy Councils.
Financial and administrative files would also have been amongst the losses, he added.
Magistrate Latchman asked Dr Ramsammy: “And all these records have been lost as well?” And he replied: “Yes.”
He said, in 2005, there were meteorological and surveillance records about the risk to which the flood would have exposed people to leptospirosis and the estimate is that more than 700 would have been affected.
Even yellow fever cards, which may prohibit persons travelling to Brazil if there is no record of vaccinations, were lost as well.

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In answer to the magistrate, Ramsammy explained that, if someone has to travel to Brazil in order to enter that country, the person will have to get vaccinated all over again, if the individual had taken shots of vaccination prior to the inferno.
Somersall had no questions for the minister but Jones who was unrepresented by counsel, declared how privileged he was to have Dr Ramsammy giving evidence.
The prosecutor said Jones is known to have been sentenced to eight years imprisonment and fined for cultivating cannabis (marijuana) and illegal gun and ammunition possession.
Jones is also facing charges of discharging a loaded firearm, attempted murder and murder but Westford has no previous criminal record, the prosecutor said.
Somersall said Westford will be 24 on September 14, had worked in the Ministry of Finance and was not involved in any crime previously.  
Jones, also 24, was asked by Magistrate Latchman if there is anyone he would like to call to testify on his behalf but he answered in the negative.
Outside the court, Ramsammy told reporters that he was pleased with the way the judicial system and law enforcement worked to determine who were involved and fully responsible for the criminal act.
He added that, among the other lost records, was the first documented case of the HIV in 1987.
But irate family members and relatives of the jailed men claimed injustice had been done to them.    
The blaze, believed to have been started with channa bombs, devoured age old files, vehicles and several key divisions in a major blow to the health sector, raging for more than three hours amidst a downpour of rain.
The Guyana Fire Service (GFS), in a valiant effort managed to save the Guyana Geology and Mines Commission (GGMC) and other adjacent buildings but could not avoid the destruction of the main Health Ministry building that housed the offices of the two ministers, a Permanent Secretary, Chief Medical Officer, administrative staff, the Registry and the disease control, adolescent health and tobacco control units, among others.