Almost two months after the Mahdia Secondary School dormitory fire had resulted in the death of 20 persons, the Government is one step closer to setting up a Commission of Inquiry (CoI) to investigate the circumstances, with President Dr Irfaan Ali aiming to have all members sworn in by this weekend.
While it has been revealed that Major General (retired) Joseph Singh will lead that Inquiry, the names of other members are not yet known. According to President Ali, he is still in consultation with those potential persons, and is hoping to fully constitute the CoI by this weekend.
“I’m in consultation with a number of potential candidates. I have not confirmed their acceptance at this time…but I’m hoping that before the end of this week, that we can have the full complement constituted for the CoI,” the Head of State told a press conference on Wednesday.
Major General Retired Joseph Singh
He further explained that while there is a draft of the CoI’s Terms of Reference (ToR), this will have to be fine-tuned when all members are officially sworn in.
“I would not want to say ‘final’ Terms of Reference, because, of course, we have to have the full complement of commissioners…they have to have an input also into the finalization of the Terms of Reference,” he explained.
The May 21 inferno killed 19 female students between the ages of 12 and 17, and a five-year-old boy who was the son of the dorm parents.
This fire was allegedly started by a 15-year-old student who had also lived at the dorm, after her cellular phone had been taken away by the facility’s mother and a teacher. The teen suspect has since been slapped with 20 murder charges, and is currently on remand in a juvenile holding facility.
According to the surviving female students, they were asleep, but were awakened by screams. Upon checking, they saw fire and smoke in the bathroom area, which quickly spread across the building, causing several students to receive burns to their bodies and suffer smoke inhalation, while several managed to escape.
The facility housed about 59 students from the communities of Karisparu, El Paso, Micobie and Chenapau.
Meanwhile, apart from the CoI, President Ali had announced that the victims’ families would be compensated by the State, and offered short-, medium- and long-term support.
The girls who perished in the fire are: Sherana Daniels, Subrina John, Belnisa Evans, Loreen Evans, Bibi Rita Fiona Jeffrey, Lisa Roberts, Tracil Thomas, Delecia Edwards, Lorita Williams, Natalie Bellarmine, Arianna Edwards, Cleoma Simon, Martha Dandrade, Mary Dandrade, Omerfia Edwin, Nickleen Robinson, Sherlyn Bellarmine, Eulander Carter and Andrea Roberts. Adanye Jerome, the five-year-old son of the dorm mother, was also among those who passed. (G11)
