2 years later: PSC delivers Mahdia fire relief after donation controversy

Chairman of the Private Sector Commission (PSC), Gerald Gouveia Jr, together with Executive Director Nayteram Ramnarine, met with the families affected by the 2023 tragic Mahdia fire on Friday and hand over financial donations and support packages contributed by PSC corporate members to the affected families.
Gouveia extended condolences on behalf of the PSC and its membership, reaffirming the private sector’s support for those impacted the tragedy.

As part of that pledge, the Chairman and Executive Director also spent the day engaging with community members and visiting the site of the fire.
In 2025, the PSC was placed in the spotlight regarding funds that were raised by the commission to bring relief to the Mahdia dorm fire victims and families, immediate past chairman of the PSC Komal Singh had set the record straight about the usage of the funds raised by the organisation.
Two years after the Mahdia Secondary School dormitory fire claimed the lives of 20 children, it was revealed that nearly $30 million in donations collected by the PSC were not disbursed to the families.

The 2024 report of the PSC revealed that under the Chairmanship of the immediate past Chairman Komal Singh. The organisation accumulated $29,941,375 under the designation “Contributions for Mahdia Fire Relief.” However, to date none of these funds has been distributed to the victims’ families or applied to any relief efforts.
In this regard, Singh, during a recent edition of the Guyana Dialogue programme, cleared the air surrounding the usage of these funds. According to Singh, the almost $30 Million in funds raised was donated by members of the commission and not members of the public.
Singh had noted that with the new council in place, members of the public will soon be notified on the usage of the funds.
The Mahdia dormitory fire in Guyana was one of the most tragic incidents in Guyana’s history that occurred on May 21, 2023, resulting in the deaths of 20 individuals, including 19 students and a 5-year-old boy.
The deceased students were: Tracil Thomas, Lisa Roberts, Delicia Edwards, Lorita Williams, Natalie Bellarmine, Arriana Edwards, Cleoma Simon, Subrina John, Martha Dandrade, Loreen Evans, Belnisa Evans, Mary Dandrade, Omerfia Edwin, Nickleen Robinson, Sherina Daniels, Eulander Carter, Andrea Roberts, and Rita Jeffrey. Additionally, five-year-old Adanye Jerome—the son of the dorm parents who were attempting to rescue other children at the time—also tragically lost his life.
The Mahdia school dormitory housed approximately 59 students from the communities of Karisparu, El Paso, Micobie, and Chenapao in Region Eight.
The fire was allegedly set by a 15-year-old student who was reportedly upset after her mobile phone was confiscated by the dorm parent. The teenager was charged with 20 counts of murder.
She had reportedly been previously suspended for violating dorm rules and had been involved in an argument during which she allegedly threatened to cause “trouble.” The fire was reportedly set in the bathroom area of the dormitory.
According to a Guyana Fire Service (GFS) press release, 14 youths died at the scene, while five others succumbed at the Mahdia District Hospital. Another child later succumbed to injuries. Several of the victims were initially airlifted to the Georgetown Public Hospital Corporation (GPHC) as part of a medical evacuation effort coordinated by President Dr Irfaan Ali, who was present at the Eugene F. Correia International Airport in Ogle, East Coast Demerara (ECD), during the early hours of 21 May 2023.