A PRIVATE American forensic investigator will arrive in Guyana on Monday to begin an investigation into Gafoor’s second major fire, which is suspected to be arson, a source close to the investigation has revealed.“Most often, origin and cause deal with insurance companies. These companies hire a private investigator to explain what happened, and who should pay for the damage. A private fire investigator is needed because in order for reimbursements to be approved, and rebuilding underway, a complete investigation looking at all angles need to be done,” one police source told the Guyana Chronicle.
Six months after a major conflagration ravaged 60 per cent of its compound and left billions of dollars of damage in its wake, tragedy struck again on October, 10, 2016 at the Houston, East Bank Demerara complex,destroying a bond containing 52 containers of stocks for the Christmas season.
The combined value of the destroyed stocks and building totals US$4M. Local investigators said 405,000 square feet of stocks including tiles, generators and non-combustible items were completely destroyed in 10 hours.
Meanwhile, it has been reported that a businessman allegedly paid two men $40,000 to set fire to the Gafoor’s Houston Complex bond on October 10. The bond went up in flames the first day it was reopened after it was destroyed in a blaze on May 9.
Executive Chairman of Gafsons Industries, Sattaur Gafoor, told the Guyana Chronicle that there is a great need for a private investigator to examine the circumstances surrounding the cause of the fires.
“There is too much at stake, we have lost profits for this period of time when we are out of business. All I can say we have tried over the years to offer the best possible service; we have always paid our taxes; we have always been honest to our employees and above all we have honoured our commitments to society; we have fulfilled our corporate responsibilities and we avoid confrontation,” Gafoor told the Guyana Chronicle.
He told reporters that over the past 64 years, there has never been a fire — “not even during the tumultuous years of the 1980s; our first fire was on the 9, May 2016 — basically 64 years after we started business.”
Explaining the cause of the first fire, Gafoor said there was no electricity within the bond where the fire started, neither electrical wires but combustible items inside.
He said the fire quickly spread to the other bonds — bonds two, four, five, six — then to the administration building, conference room and storage building.
“We have lost all records, personal possessions and things that can never ever be replaced… historical records were lost and my library was gone, and only one building that was badly burnt still stands,” he said.
The company operates business complexes at Land of Canaan, East Bank Demerara; at Parika, East Bank Essequibo; and at Rose Hall on the Corentyne.
Gafoor’s started in 1957, when Sattaur Gafoor built the company to become one of Guyana’s leading distributors and manufacturing entities.
In January 2002, all operations of the company were centralised at the Houston Complex.