THE Commission of Inquiry (CoI) that will investigate the Mahdia dorm fire, which killed 20 children, could be fully constituted by the end of this week, according to President Dr. Irfaan Ali.

During a press briefing on Wednesday, the Head of State told members of the media that consultations were held with a number of potential candidates.

“I’m hoping that before the end of this week that we can have the full complement constituted for the COI,” the Head of State said.

The Guyana Chronicle had previously reported that retired Chief of Staff of the Guyana Defence Force (GDF), Major General Joe Singh, will head the team that will conduct the CoI. At the time of that report, the government was finalising the terms of reference (ToR).

On May 22, just days before Guyana celebrated its independence anniversary, the country was plunged into mourning after a fire, which authorities have since determined was maliciously set, ravaged a secondary school’s girls’ dormitory in Mahdia.

At the time of the fire, 56 of the girls were present, as three had gone 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.

Several of the survivors were airlifted to the capital city for emergency care. One critically injured girl was since medevacked to a New York health facility for further treatment and is said to be recovering well.

Meanwhile, a 15-year-old student was remanded to a juvenile facility on 20 counts of murder.

President Ali had promised that a Commission of Inquiry (CoI) will be established to prevent the reoccurrence of such a tragedy, since questions have been raised about the building’s safety.