Dear Editor,
THE 15-year-old student who allegedly set fire to the female dorm at Mahdia Secondary School has been charged with 19 counts of murder and remanded to the Juvenile Holding Centre in Sophia, Georgetown.
Magistrate Sunil Scarce did not require her to plead to the indictable charges. He adjourned the matter to July 5 for statement and disclosure.
The fire claimed the lives of 19 girls and one boy who tragically died in the inferno, which started after 23:00hrs on Sunday, May 21. Additionally, 28 girls were also injured in the conflagration.

Subsequent to the tragedy, the PNC/coalition went into full campaign mode, distressing the survivors and causing even more agony to the devastated relatives of the dead children by opportunistically making their grief campaign material.
The entire opposition cabal and their satellites are gleefully using this tragedy to call for the resignation of key government personnel.
Many sympathizing judases are now claiming to be heroes who saved the survivors, but who have been proven to be liars who don’t want to be recognized as the cowards they are; whereas the real heroes are ignored.
Now for the lamenting, government-blaming, and bashing coalition opposition cabal and their perennial sanctimonious hypocrisy; let us reflect.

A Guyana Times article, dated August 20, 2016 and headlined “The Drop-In Centre fire” related that “The Commission of Inquiry (CoI) report into the fire at the Hadfield Street Drop-in Centre last month, which claimed the lives of two children, was handed in earlier this week. The report concluded that the incident was a tragedy waiting to happen. For many this came as no surprise, as for quite some time now, several stakeholders have been raising various concerns about the facility regarding its safety and the level of care it provides for children placed there.

“Previously, sections of the media have sought to highlight the many problems plaguing the facility but to no avail. In fact, the authorities had always sought to downplay the reports and present the picture that all was well at the facility. In any modern society, there would have been very strong actions recommended against those who were found to be lacking in their response to the tragedy.
“It is quite clear that at all levels, including even at the levels of the Minister of Social Protection and the Director of the Childcare Protection Agency (CPA), very little concern was shown towards ensuring those placed in the State’s care were given the kind of protection they deserve.
“Minister Volda Lawrence has been in that position for well over a year now and at least should have put certain policy mechanisms in place aimed at ensuring what obtained previously changed for the better. It is quite unfortunate that it had to take another fire and the loss of the lives of two children to cause the authorities to wake up from their slumber.
“It should be noted that there was a similar fire a few years back at the facility and even though no one died, many of the children were left traumatised. One is therefore left to wonder what changes were made, if any, since then, to ensure that our children are well protected from such tragedies.

“The findings of the recent inquiry conducted by Retired Colonel Windee Algernon found that the children/staffer ratio was not adhered to and that on the morning of the fire, there were not enough staff on duty to meet the needs of children. Additionally, the house service supervisor, while she had the authority to call out more staff, failed to do so.
“The CoI also found that there were written guidelines for the management of crisis situations, including fires; however, the house manager and other senior staff seemed unfamiliar with them. And so when the fire occurred, there was confusion and panic, resulting in the tragedy.

“Of note too is that the inquiry found that the fire was caused by a defective electrical outlet fitted with exposed wires on the eastern wall of the girls’ dormitory. This, the report said, played a role in the ignition of the fire by subsequent heat transfer. It should be mentioned that the authorities had also concluded that the 2010 fire at the facility was also as a result of an electrical problem.
“The fire department at the time had made some recommendations that would have minimised the possibility of a similar situation occurring. It is still not known what sort of corrective work was done to fix the electrical problems which seem to be plaguing the facility since that time. How did such a situation occur a second time?

“In the meantime, we are still waiting to see what sort of action will be taken against those who are found to be responsible.”
Today, the same people responsible for the deaths of these children, because in that instance there was no arsonist, but the negligence of state officials, are pointing fingers of blame at the President and caring, hard-working State officials, who are working almost around the clock, trying to improve the lives and lifestyles, in a non-partisan way, of all the citizens of the land; and the welfare and circumstances of the nation’s children.
Yours Sincerely,
Alvin Hamilton