Mahdia Fire: GFS is not responsible for equipping buildings with fire prevention measures– Min Benn

While addressing the events of the tragic Mahdia dormitory fire, Home Affairs Minister Robeson Benn on Tuesday outlined that the Guyana Fire Service (GFS) was not responsible for putting fire-preventative measures in place on the building.
In addressing the National Assembly on day two of the Budget Debates, the Home Affairs Minister drew attention to the fact that the Guyana Fire Service is responsible only for inspection of buildings.
“The Guyana Fire Service, under the protocols established, does not have the responsibility, or did not have the responsibility, to do those things. It is incumbent on the house owner, or the owner of the building, or whoever is the agency that owns the building, to put those things in place for follow-up inspections by the Guyana Fire Service,” Benn contended.
The Commission of Inquiry into the Mahdia dormitory fire recently recommended that an inspectorate be set up to visit the dormitories which have been retrofitted, or are being retrofitted, to determine the extent to which they comply with the recommended Gender Sensitive Standards for Dormitories. This recommendation should also apply to dormitories for intended construction.
Minister Benn also agreed with the Commission’s position: that despite being notified late, firefighters still managed to save several lives during the May 21, 2023 blaze.
“It is true that there were inadequacies about a delayed fire call. The building was alight by the time the Fire Service got there. Also, there was the question of them being able to break into the building even when they arrived, and how best to treat the children when they did rescue children from the building. I want to say that despite all that happened, the Guyana Fire Service personnel rescued persons from the building,” Benn reiterated.
The Home Affairs Ministry, through the Guyana Fire Service, has equipped dorms and school buildings in the interior with smoke alarms, extinguishers, fireballs, sand buckets, and other measures to mitigate fires.
Going forward, the CoI Report indicated that grills should be replaced with a modern security system, inclusive of secured fencing and cameras, to ensure a protected environment and assist in monitoring the entry and exit of all persons using the facilities.
On the evening of the May 21 fire, there were 57 female students in the dormitory: a one-flat concrete building measuring about 100 feet by 40 feet, with several heavily-grilled windows and five doors. The Commission heard during testimonies that the grills were installed to prevent the girls from escaping.
Many students were trapped in the burning structure during the fire, and 19 eventually perished, along with the son of the dorm parents.
CoI Chairman, Major General (retd) Joseph Singh, has noted that several inadequacies were uncovered at the dormitory, including unpreparedness by the Mahdia Fire Service in terms of emergency response and rescue; and the lack of a water supply.
However, it has been determined that an equipped facility would not have delivered a different result, having regard to the cause of the fire and the speed with which it became an inferno.
He was quoted as saying, “Based on the evidence, we concluded an individual intentionally set the fire…Despite the presence of five ungrilled doors situated in the building to provide entry and exit, this failed to impact what unfolded on May 21, 2023. Such was the magnitude and speed of the blaze. This was accompanied by an unacceptable human failure to access the keys in those chaotic and fiery circumstances.”