-vehicles, barrels among cargo destroyed; cause unknown

HUNDREDS of millions of dollars in damage have been left in the wake of a fire that destroyed a Guyana National Industrial Company Incorporated (GNIC) storage bond being used by the Laparkan Shipping Company at its Lombard Street location, late Sunday night.

A storage bond being used by the Tropical Shipping Company sustained water damage and minor fire damage.

Up to press time on Monday, the cause of the fire or the full extent of the losses had not been determined.

The Guyana Revenue Authority (GRA) is said to be working on the completion of an inventory.

“Propane cylinders, a quantity of barrels containing foodstuff, clothing, household appliances and other items were destroyed. Laparkan Trading Company suffered the loss of one Bobcat machine; a quantity of office furniture; gas cylinders ; crates of energy drinks; three 40-foot containers containing electrical cables and flex hoses; three electrical transformers and three 40-foot refrigeration containers. Eleven vehicles were also destroyed, while five were severely damaged and three others were slightly damaged,” a statement from the Guyana Fire Service (GFS) outlined.

The Fire Service in its statement noted that the facilities did not have any fire-prevention measures in place.

“There were no smoke detectors, fire extinguishers or fire hoses installed in the building. Smoke detectors and sprinkler systems play a major role in preventing fires, while fire extinguishers are useful in putting out small fires,” the statement said.

The GFS said that following the receipt of a call at 23:37hrs on Sunday, five water tenders and the fire boat were immediately dispatched to the location.

“The first appliance arrived at 23:42hrs. These appliances were able to bring the fire under control and subsequently extinguish it,” the statement said.

Meanwhile, several customers arriving at the shipping company on Monday morning were hit with the news that their packages which they were hoping to uplift had been destroyed. They were given claim forms by the company to fill out as part of the process.

Bridget August of Plaisance, East Coast Demerara, was particularly disheartened by the situation given that a box containing a number of items for her cousin’s wedding, inclusive of the wedding gown, were among the items destroyed in the blaze.

“Right now my head is hurting because is her wedding gown, the flower girl stuff and everything is in there for the wedding. I was supposed to receive two boxes and a barrel, I only got the barrel; the boxes were burnt up. Stuff was in the box for me too,” August told this publication.

The wedding is scheduled for February 12, and August is unsure of how the family will now move forward.

While August was able to salvage at least one of her boxes, others were not so lucky.

Thirty-five-year-old, Manjo Ramdin, estimates that he has lost approximately $750,000. When he turned up at the wharf to clear his items, he was told that everything was destroyed.

Ramdin, a farmer from Soesdyke-Linden Highway, was waiting on fertilisers and other agro-chemicals for his farm.

“It was 13 packages came different ways: boxes, pallets, crates and so forth. It’s hard because these stuff I ordered since July [2021], but it only come in now because the shipping has been a problem. So even if I order again that might come until mid-year and by that time most of the stuff on the farm would’ve died out… it’s chemicals for the plants that was [sic] coming,” Ramdin explained to this publication.

Ramdin said he learnt about the fire on Monday morning over the internet and was immediately worried about his items. He noted that he also has a number of customers to whom he supplies items , and the situation will also affect that aspect of his business.

“I have a lot of customers depending on the goods coming. When I saw the fire, I knew they would be devastated, but at the same time everything takes a process. Nobody could’ve predicted this would’ve happen [sic],” he added.

Like August, Ramdin said he has only thus far been told to fill out and submit a claim for his destroyed items.

Santi Pestano learnt about the fire while en route to Laparkan from Essequibo and was hoping for some good news when she arrived at the location.

“I heard some persons talking about it when I was on the way this morning. I said in my mind ‘Lord I hope nothing is burnt for me.’ I’ve waited so long for this because this stuff was booked since November and we should have gotten it for Christmas,” Pestano said.

She was able to get some of her items as the rest had been destroyed in the fire.

“I was expecting 10 pieces: barrels, washer, dryer, a fridge, sink. The dryer, washer and the sink they said they couldn’t account for those. I felt disappointed after waiting so long for it. I opted not to buy them here because I wanted to buy a good quality item over there. I hope they can indeed reimburse the cost,” she said.

Efforts made to contact Laparkan for a comment on the situation proved futile.