GUYANA | Adam's Notebook: Their children died in the Mahdia dorm fire, now the government is bullying them

GEORGETOWN,  August 6, 2023 - There is no law that says that someone must be bullied into accepting whatever compensation is being offered. In fact, it is illegal. One should not cause someone to do something under duress.

However, this is the course of action being pursued by the government. It is bullying the parents and relatives of those children who died in the Mahdia dormitory fire on May 21, last, to accept the $5 million that the government is offering for every life.

This offer made its way into the public domain when a media house reported that the government had offered the money. Immediately, people wanted to know if the families had been advised by counsel. It turned out that they were not afforded legal counsel.

Now the offer is being pushed down the people’s throats. They are also being threatened and shouted at if they hesitate to sign. Some of the families have refused.

The parents of the twins who died in the fire, were in Georgetown when the government transported them to Mahdia by the Cessna Caravan, an aircraft that can ferry 14 passengers. A third child who was in the dormitory escaped. However, she is psychologically a mess. She has not received the appropriate therapy.

This family hails from Chenapau, a district in the Middle Mazaruni. Mahdia was the closest location for the children to obtain a secondary education. So after the National Grade Six Examinations, the three children from this household gained places at the Mahdia Secondary School.

That was how they became dorm students.

On the aircraft from Georgetown with the parents was Attorney General Anil Nandlall. The date was July 3, a mere one month and 12 days after they had lost their children. There were two other government representatives on the aircraft.

The government team flew the family to the regional boardroom at Mahdia to offer the compensation. They were joined by others from Chenapau.

These are people still in shock and in mourning. But that mattered not to Nandlall and the team which shouted at the people to sign the document. They were told that if they don’t want to sign they can take a lawyer. They may get some judgement but then again they may get nothing, the team headed by Nandlall told these grief-stricken people.

The mere thought that they may get nothing caused some of the people to sign the document. Many could not read so they were not sure about what they were signing. However, some still refuse to sign.

On Monday, July 31, the government once more ventured into the hinterland to transport to Mahdia, the families and relatives of those children who died. On this day helicopters were used to transport people from Karisparu to Mahdia.

And it was not the family. It was either the husband or the wife—not both. It was a plan to make the family as uncomfortable as possible at the meeting.

Once more the intention was to get them to agree one way or another to the compensation. But Anil Nandlall was even smarter. He walked with money. The sum of $500,000 or ten percent was given to these people as an advance. Some signed and took it.

Once they took the advance they could not claim to have rejected the compensation package. But again there were people who refused to sign the document.

A similar ploy was adopted with the people of Micobie a few days earlier. Again helicopters were used to fly them to Mahdia. Again, the government did not fly the husband and wife. It was one or the other.

And there was a common thread. Apart from the parents, no other relative was allowed into the Mahdia boardroom. From the time the people arrived the police ushered them into the room. Those who attempted for follow their relatives were told that it was a private meeting.

In fact, these people were not even allowed to speak with their relatives at Mahdia. It was as if they were prisoners. Some felt that their relatives had been being kidnapped.

The worrying thing is that some of the grieving parents cannot remember the events. One woman said that she vaguely remembers signing a document. However, she said that she has refused the money.

The opposition has noted the haste with which the contract for the compensation is being pushed at the people. This is being done even before the Commission of Inquiry into the fire. The wider society expects the Commission of Inquiry to apportion blame to numerous other parties.

For starters, it was not the children who made the dormitory escape proof. They were sealed in, a measure that the Guyana Fire Service criticized. And this was more than a year before the blaze. No action was taken.

In fact, the report was never made public. It only became known when people began to question the barricading of the children in the dorm. People also wanted to know who authorized the barricading of the building.

The regional authorities said that they were not responsible. So too did the Education Ministry. The Minister of Education spoke of not seeing any report faulting the safety of the dormitory.

It was Shaggy all along. It wasn’t me.

And now I say farewell to my classmate Roger Forbes Luncheon—the child who was named after Forbes Burnham. I knew him very well. On holidays he and some of the other schoolmates would ride up to Beterverwagting where I lived to drink copious amounts of water coconuts.

The cane beds were not spared. And few knew that he had a twin—his sister Joan. To her and his other relatives I say -- Requiescat in pace--Rest in Peace.

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