-Minister Edghill pledges, says ‘regrettable’ fire was painful news

MINISTER of Public Works Bishop Juan Edghill on Sunday announced reconstruction plans, hours after the Kwakwani Secondary School located at Pathville, Kwakwani was ravaged by a fire of unknown origin.

The minister in a video posted on Facebook said it was agonising when he received the “painful news” of the fire, which occurred around 03:40hrs.

“Whatever is the cause of that fire, it is regrettable. Children need to be served. A community needs to be served,” the minister said before adding, “I am proud to announce that the President Ali-led administration, now, and the one that will be elected on September 1, will rebuild Kwakwani Secondary.”

He also assured the community that the school’s reconstruction will be completed quickly. “Parents, children, and the community of Kwakwani, please be assured that your pain, suffering, and loss will be remedied swiftly.”

To prevent learning loss, the government will team up with local authorities to ensure that alternative arrangements are ready for the children when classes start again.

Kwakwani, like any other community, will continue to benefit from the government’s development programme and thrive, Minister Edghill said.

Meanwhile, police said in a statement that a probe into the circumstances of the fire has been launched.

According to the statement, the building was a one-storey concrete structure measuring around 30 feet in width and 100 feet in length.

“A Corporal stationed at Mackenzie Police Station stated that about 03:40hrs this morning, he was at Kwakwani Ballfield where he was attending the yearly fair for Kwakwani Village, when he saw a big fire coming from Pathville area. He immediately called the Kwakwani Police Station and informed the ranks there.

“A Police Sergeant and two other ranks responded to the report and on arrival, they saw the Kwakwani Secondary School on fire.

“The ranks summoned the auxiliary staff where a fire pick-up vehicle driven by Julian Martin and assisted by Jishan Martin, went into action and extinguished the fire but by that time the school was completely destroyed.

“The school was powered by electricity from the Kwakwani Utility Inc. It was alleged that there was a constant power outage during the night in the area.

“The school was protected by Homesafe Security Service with a guard on duty at the time.
When questioned he stated that he was making checks around the compound and discovered smoke coming from the Headmistress office which is located on the southwestern side of the building. He immediately called his supervisor Ms Elizabeth Samuels and informed her,” the statement said.

In a video online shared by Kwakwani resident Stephen Russell, Carlon Johnson, who was staying at the school for the Prime Minister’s Cup event recounted what transpired.

Johnson recalled that when he woke up to charge his phone, he observed a significant amount of smoke in the building.

On going outside to investigate, he recalled going to the security guard who was on duty at the time and informed him that smoke was coming out from the headmistress’ office which was locked.

He mentioned that the lights in the building were going on and off consistently, possibly caused by an exposed electrical wire he had noticed. The man said he woke up the other persons who were staying in the building and they all exited safely.

Because of the absence of water, the 12 to 15 men who were there could do nothing but watch helplessly as the fire gutted the building.

“We didn’t have no water in the area. Even the black tanks burn down. We couldn’t have done anything about it,” he said.

Based on his observation, Johnson said the fire was not intentional and appeared to be electrical in nature. He explained that he believed that an exposed wire ignited in the ceiling and within 10 minutes the building was engulfed in flames.