PRESIDENT, Dr. Irfaan Ali has announced that retired Chief of Staff of the Guyana Defence Force (GDF), Major General Joe Singh, will head the team that will conduct the Commission of Inquiry (CoI) into deadly Mahdia dorm fire that claimed the lives of 20 children.

According to the Head of State, the Terms of Reference (ToR) for the CoI are in the process of being finalised so as to guide the commission on what it will set out to accomplish.
Several meetings are being planned in relation to the incident over the next few days, including meetings with the family members of the victims.

The President made those announcement in an invited comment to the media on the sidelines of an event at the Arthur Chung Conference Centre (ACCC).
“So, we are finalising the ToR right now. I have a meeting before the end of this week with the team. I can tell you that we have identified Major General Joe Singh to lead that team. So, I have a meeting with him before the end of this week. I’m also having a meeting with the family members of the fire to discuss some outstanding issues that I’m in discussion with the family with,” the President said.

It was on May 22, just a few days before Guyana celebrated Independence Day that a tragic fire gutted the Mahdia Secondary School Female Dormitory. At the time of the fire, 56 of the girls were present, as three had went home with their families for the weekend.

The children housed at the dorms came from the communities of Karisparu, El Paso, Micobie and Chenapao.
Initially 18 girls from the dorm and a five year old boy, who was the son of the dorm mother, perished in the fire, but a 20th student who was injured in the fire passed away a few days later.
President Ali had committed to the launching of a CoI to investigate the causes and circumstances of the deadly Mahdia fire, and guide the way forward.