– Mayor Mentore confirms building was insured; no financial records lost

Saturday afternoon saw a fire that severely damaged the East Ruimveldt Community Centre, a facility that had been inactive for the last few years.
Georgetown Mayor Alfred Mentore confirmed to that the building, which previously housed a nursery school, was being used for storage purposes and was not in active use at the time of the incident.

According to eyewitnesses at the scene, emergency services were alerted by people living nearby to the fire around 5:30.pm. Three fire trucks, two from the Guyana Fire Service Headquarters and one from the West Ruimveldt station, responded to the call.
Mentore while speaking to the reporters at the scene confirmed that while the building had been closed since the onset of the COVID-19 pandemic, plans were underway to repurpose the facility for community use.
“We were going to actually bring back some people here to deal with it after COVID, to benefit staff and the community,” he stated.
Fortunately, Mayor Mentore confirmed that no financial or sensitive records were stored at the location at the time of the fire.
“I just confirmed with the Treasurer that it’s not financial information. That is very critical to the government, especially since we are finalising parts of our audit,” he explained.
He said any records previously retrieved by the accounting firm during audits had come from a different location.
While the exact cause of the fire remains unclear, Mentore expressed concern and called for a thorough investigation.
“It’s one of those situations where we don’t have all the answers at this time,” he said.
Security had been stationed at the property during certain hours, but the mayor said it is uncertain whether that was maintained at the time of the fire.
He emphasised the importance of reviewing security measures and confirmed that CCTV cameras will be considered moving forward.
“We will do all that we can do,” he assured, adding, “Whatever the investigation turns out to provide, we will definitely look at addressing it.”
Importantly, the building is insured. “We just even paid the insurance up to date,” Mentore said, noting that the city had recently requested a revaluation of several buildings to ensure adequate coverage.
As the investigation into the cause of the fire continues, Mayor Mentore reaffirmed his commitment to transparency and accountability.