The Opposition, A Partnership of National Unity and Alliance for Change (APNU+AFC) whilst lambasting the length of time the People’s Progressive Party/Civic (PPP/C) government has taken to establish a Commission of Inquiry into the Mahdia Dormitory Fire, has promised to compensate victims when they return to government. On 21st May fire razed through the female dorm resulting in the death of 20 children, including a five-year-old. Son of the dorm mother, and injuries to several.
The opposition in a recent statement announced the next Coalition government will review the matter and make proper restitution that fully respects the full scope of the loss and grief experienced by the affected families.
These payments, the Opposition said, will be part of our proposed National Victim’s Restitution Programme. “The programme’s aim is to compensate citizens who, during the PPP’s term of office 2020 to 2025, lost land, property, jobs and employment benefits, contracts, permits, scholarships and other opportunities as victims of ethnic, religious, and political discrimination by the PPP government at the local and central levels. Restitution can be monetary, in kind, or in the form of new benefits and opportunities.”
Such a programme, the APNU+AFC shared, can be finalised and operationalised within the first 100 days of the new coalition government.
The full statement follows:-
THE COALITION GOVERNMENT WILL ADEQUATELY COMPENSATE THE FAMILIES OF VICTIMS OF THE MAHDIA FIRE WITHIN OUR PROPOSED NATIONAL VICTIM’S RESTITUTION SCHEME
We note that the government, after foot-dragging for two-and-half months, has finally established a Commission of Inquiry into the Mahdia dormitory fire, which took the lives of twenty young Guyanese. We see no signs that the government has provided the commission with its Terms of Reference (TOR). In proposing a TOR a few days after the tragedy, we called for the TOR to be finalised within a multi-stakeholder process, the aim of which “is to foster a transparent, inclusive, and thorough inquiry that upholds the principles of transparency, accountability, justice, prevention, and adequate compensation.” Unfortunately, the PPP in its usual style excluded the stakeholders and dominated and controlled the entire process to the detriment of a proper investigation.
We call on the commission not to treat compensation as a done deal, despite the government’s recent maneuvers to make it so. More generally, we call on the commission to follow the evidence however high it goes without fear or favour.
On the issue of adequate compensation for families of victims: today, we wish to announce that the next Coalition government will review the matter and make proper restitution that fully respects the full scope of the loss and grief experienced by the affected families. These payments will be part of our proposed NATIONAL VICTIM’S RESTITUTION PROGRAMME. The programme’s aim is to compensate citizens who, during the PPP’s term of office 2020 to 2025, lost land, property, jobs and employment benefits, contracts, permits, scholarships and other opportunities as victims of ethnic, religious, and political discrimination by the PPP government at the local and central levels. Restitution can be monetary, in kind, or in the form of new benefits and opportunities.
Such a programme can be finalised and operationalised within the first 100 days of the new coalition government.
