GPSU Mourns Loss of Mahdia Children, Wants Commission of Inquiry

The Guyana Public Service Union (GPSU), in the statement said, the nation of Guyana mourns the loss of nineteen children, who were immolated in a fire that enveloped the female dormitory at the Madhia Secondary School.

The Guyana Fire Service, said the Union, “has determined that the fire was ‘maliciously set,’ but there are more questions than answers as to why the deceased could not be saved in a timely manner, including culpability for the decisions that apparently led to the nightly imprisonment (locked in with no viable means of escape) of the children, whereby they were in a state of helplessness to save their own lives, when this was required of them.”

Further, the Union made known there is also the seemingly presence of only one “House Mother” to control and counsel approximately forty (40) young ladies within the dormitory and/or administer to their nightly needs and the pellucid lack of other dormitory staffers and security personnel that could have assisted in some way when the crises arose.

Questions have also arisen, the Union pointed out, about the distance the House Mother had to traverse to get the keys and why the actual key to the dormitory was not immediately identifiable, resulting in fumbling and dropping of those keys, as reported in a Stabroek News’ (May 24, 2023) story, attributed to the Minister of Home Affairs, who also reportedly represented that the doors to the dormitory were not grilled. The Union noted the information was highly disputed by picketing residents of Mahdia and parents of the deceased children.

It was pointed out the impression that the “malicious setter” of the fire is still alive and un-burnt, begs the question as to how she was able to escape unhurt when others were trapped inside the building.

Because of the foregoing and many other unanswered questions and contradictory statements, the GPSU shared that the President should take immediate action to convene an impartial, transparent commission of inquiry into the unnatural deaths of the children from the Mahdia Secondary School. The gravity of the matter dictates the requirements of the Commission of Inquiry Act, Chapter 19:03 be invoked to publicly clarify the circumstances that led to the unnatural deaths of the children, the Union advised.

President Irfaan Ali, in his Independence address to the nation last evening, said a COI will be set up.