President Bharrat Jagdeo met yesterday with the victims of last Saturday's early morning fire in New Amsterdam at the Parkway International Hotel. The meeting was convened after a tour of the burnt-out site by the head of state and a team of government and regional officials. Some 50 victims and their families attended the mid-morning closed-door meeting to lay their tribulations at the feet of the country's leader. Among those accompanying the President on his site visit were Minister of Agriculture Navin Chandarpal, Regional Chairman Kumkaran Ramdass, Town Clerk Lurel Alfred and Ministerial Adviser on Empowerment Odinga Lumumba.
Jagdeo expressed his sympathy and concern to those who suffered as a result of the fire, pointing out that the high level of representation, including his own presence was indicative of the government's concern over the situation. Since the fire a number of government officials, including Ministers Harripersaud Nokta, Ronald Gajraj and Manzoor Nadir have visited the site. Speaking before the closed-door session began, the President told victims "there are always limits to how much the government can do in such circumstances, because those affected operated private businesses. I am here to work out what support we can give to get you back into business. There can never be full compensation but you can rest assured that I will work and do whatever it takes to help you. I regret the loss of property. Fortunately there was no loss of lives but there was significant loss of property and assets."
According to Jagdeo he heard of violations of the building codes, the slow response time of the fire service, the condition of some of the buildings and the unavailability of water. "All of these factors may have contributed to the fire not being contained as quickly as it should have been." Since some time on Saturday, the fire service had stopped dousing the smouldering remnants of four buildings.
A number of individuals have expressed concern over the repulsive odour that has been emanating from the charred remains. However, shortly after the President began his tour, a team of fire-fighters turned up at the scene and began dousing the site.
Some 10 buildings which housed sixteen businesses, six stalls belonging to displaced market vendors and two homes were razed by the Friday midnight/early Saturday morning fire which raged for more than two hours. It has been speculated that total losses amounted to more than $100 million, with in excess of 100 persons losing their jobs. Meanwhile Stabroek News understands that a committee has been set up coming out of the closed-door meeting to explore avenues of assistance to the victims. The committee has been mandated to come up with recommendations as quickly as possible. It is expected to comprise representatives of the victims, government and the town council.
This newspaper understands that one of the owners of a building at the corner of Strand and Pitt street is expected to commence reconstruction as soon as the investigations are concluded. Some tenants have already begun searching for premises to rent in the town's central shopping area. At least three of the owners are overseas-based and there is no indication when they will return. Town clerk Laurel Alfred was asked what assistance the council could give to victims and responded by saying that they would have to await the return of Mayor Claude Henry from overseas before any decision could be made.
Meanwhile this newspaper has learnt that the investigations being conducted by the Guyana Fire Service are still continuing. The service has been blamed by some for the extensive damage caused by the conflagration.
However the fire service has strongly denied any culpability saying that there was not enough water available to adequately fight the fire. This in turn has been refuted by the Guyana Water Inc, whose officials say there was an adequate supply of water in three of its chambers in close proximity to the fire.
Divisional Officer of the Fire Service in New Amsterdam, Brijpaul Indershan was unable to provide any details about the investigations when contacted yesterday afternoon since he was at a meeting and could only say that they are continuing.