THE city of Georgetown has lost an important landmark. The Central Police Station located on Brickdam was gutted by fire on Saturday, reportedly by a prisoner; the matter is currently under investigation by the authorities. This is indeed a sad loss as many Guyanese would have had reason to do business at the Brickdam station, especially in terms of securing fitness for vehicles or trying to secure a drivers’ licence, in addition to other administrative policing duties.

This is yet another fire that has resulted in severe damage to government buildings. Only recently a fire destroyed the North-West Secondary School at Mabaruma, Region One, which from a preliminary investigation done was the result of arson. The North Ruimveldt Multilateral School was also damaged by fire not so long ago.

These are indeed disturbing trends. The destruction of public property by fire is a loss not only to those who occupy those buildings, but also to taxpayers as well. These buildings were built with substantial sums of money, not to mention maintenance costs and equipment, furniture and other accessories which run into millions of dollars. There is also the loss of valuable records and documents which are not easily retrievable and for which it is difficult to put a money value.

The loss of buildings to fire, however, goes beyond financial considerations. The real or true cost of the losses, from an economic standpoint, is the sacrificed alternative, that is, public buildings that could have been built by the money that is now required for the rebuilding of the damaged structures.  It could have been a new school or a new hospital or something else of dire public need. Such losses are all the more painful when the structures could have been saved, or the extent of the damage minimised, had there been a quicker and timelier response by the Guyana Fire Service.

Many individuals have commented publicly on the sloth with which the fire department responded to emergency calls by citizens. And while there are cases in which the fire service did respond promptly and with a high degree of professionalism, the number of cases where buildings could have been saved had there been a quicker response time by the fire department is too frequent to ignore.

In the specific instance of the Brickdam fire, President Dr. Mohamed Irfaan Ali had cause to comment on the response by the fire service which he described as ‘poor at best.’ According to the President, a lot more could have been done by the fire service to control the blaze had there been a more timely and proactive response.

The fact is that the government has been putting in substantial resources to improve the capacity of the fire service to respond to fires. Only this year an additional four fire tenders valued at over $202M were procured, in addition to monies expended to upgrade and expand fire stations across the country. This reality has not escaped the attention of the President who said that government cannot be making investments in the state apparatus and institutions and do not get results from those investments. “The response of the fire service was poor at its best yesterday, and as President, I hope the fire service can acknowledge this,” the President remarked.

Following the destruction of the building by fire, instructions have been given by President Ali to Home Affairs Minister Robeson Benn to put together a special team to investigate the performance of the service. In fact, the President has signalled his intention to solicit international support to investigate the matter, having regard to recent threats by some opposition elements.

There was no mincing of words and the President has made it abundantly clear that inefficiency in the public service will not be tolerated. Moreover, there would be zero tolerance for anyone seeking to undermine the integrity of the state and the public interest by engaging in unlawful activities. This is all the more worrisome in light of recent trends and the President has made it clear that no effort will be spared to bring to justice any individual found guilty of such offences.

Guyana is a law-governed country where the constitution is supreme and the rule of law is the only basis of governance. Any attempt to subvert the constitution by engaging in unlawful activities cannot be condoned and certainly does not form a part of civilised discourse.