Poor inspection regime of buildings, facilities

Dear Editor,
Two fires in two days at Government facilities. First, the Children and Family Centre in Sophia was damaged, it is alleged, by faulty electrical wiring installation on Thursday. Then, on Friday morning, the Starter’s Nursery School on Camp Street, Georgetown saw a blaze erupting. The cause, it is suggested, was a ‘breakdown in the electrical distribution panel’.
It is worthy to note that both buildings housed children of varying ages.
The Mahdia fire disaster is still fresh and alive in our minds for us to have these incidents occurring at locations occupied by children.
Aren’t there supposed to be regular inspections of Government buildings and facilities in order to detect faults, electrical and otherwise? Thankfully, there were no casualties or fatalities, but there must be lots of trauma for the young occupants of these buildings.
The Fire Service must be commended for its response and valiant efforts in bringing these situations under control.
The authorities cannot point fingers, and must be held accountable. The alleged causes of these fires, it is perceived and posited, were allowed to remain undetected due to poor inspection regime of buildings and facilities. This is unacceptable, and it seems that lessons from the Mahdia disaster were not heeded.

Sincerely,
Shamshun Mohamed