GUYANA | Opposition MPs Forde, Walton-Desir lambaste Stingy Compensation to victims of Mahdia Dorm Fire

GEORGETOWN,  Guyana, July 18, 2023 - Opposition Parliamentarians Amanza Walton-Desir and Roysdale Forde have expressed concern that the offer by the government of Guyana  and the subsequent agreement with surviving families of the 20 children, who were burnt to death in the Mahdia Secondary School’s dormitory, leaves a lot to be desired and compromise the families’ ability  for further compensatory claim from the government.

The Government in a release has announced that it has financially compensated the families/guardians of the 20 children who died in the female dormitory fire at Mahdia on 21st May 2023, and in which several persons were also injured. 

According to reports, the Government paid the family/guardian of each deceased child $5 million and $3 million to the family/guardian to each injured child.  

However, these pay-outs do not sit well with Members of Parliament (MPs) Roysdale Forde S.C and Amanza Walton-Desir, who both lambasted the government for the decision.

“ Forde pointed out that the G$5 million Guyanese dollars which translates to US $25,000 for each child who died, and G$3 million Guyanese or US$15,000 for the lifetime of trauma and injuries that the children and families must endure is no compensation!”

Senior Counsel Forde, in a scathing rebuke, said he expects the sum announced by the Government to the families who suffered in the Mahdia Dorm fire to be a token presentation of the compensatory package to come. 

Forde pointed out that the G$5 million Guyanese dollars which translates to US $25,000 for each child who died, and G$3 million Guyanese or US$15,000 for the lifetime of trauma and injuries that the children and families must endure is no compensation!”

“The miserly sum announced cannot compensate for the years those children lived, the potential value for the investment in those years, and the potential value of each life.  Government must therefore make public what formula they used to price the grief, because it appears as though they just plucked a number from the sky.”

The MP asserted the sum offered reeks of government manipulation to circumvent the arms of justice from holding the government accountable for their failure to provide safe and secure dwelling for the nation’s children held in their protection. To this end he called on the parents not to accept the undervaluing of their children’s lives

“The parents of Mahdia must not accept this undervaluing of their children’s priceless life. Whilst no amount of money can meet the value for each single life, each family’s loss and trauma, at least some decent effort should be made to show that in this oil rich country, the fastest growing economy in the world, human life is not cheapened and has value.”

Forde said he categorically condemns the preemptive posture of the government and hopes it is not their intention to bypass a credible and independent inquiry into the circumstances surrounding the disaster that took 20 young lives, and any acceptable monetary compensation that must also form part of the Terms of Reference.

In her comments, Member of Parliament Amanza Walton-Desir lashed out at Attorney General Anil Nandlall for the deceptive manner in which the government has tries to get the families to sign away their rights to further compensation should the occasion arise.

“When you look at the text of the agreement, what they have essentially asked these families to sign is that for $5 million dollars, you would waive your right to any future claim for any injuries resulting from this unfortunate incident,” she said in a video statement.

The agreement, in part, states that, “The Government of Guyana hereby offers to the parent/guardian of the victim the sum of five million dollars as a form of financial assistance which shall constitute a settlement of all claims and causes of actions on account of all injuries resulting in death and not resulting in death, that resulted from the fire of the 21st May2023 at the Mahdia Secondary School Dormitory.”

The agreement further removes any liability any party to the agreement caused by, arising from, or connected to, the fire of the 21st of May 2023 at the Mahdia Secondary School Dormitory. The agreement sees the signatories as voluntarily accepting for the purpose of making a compromise and settlement of all potential claims for liability, injury, loss and damage, concerning the tragedy.