Guyana: Retired GDF official to head COI into Mahdia dorm fire

President of Guyana Dr Irfaan Ali on Tuesday said retired chief of staff of the Guyana Defence Force (GDF), Major General Joseph Singh will head a Commission of Inquiry (COI) into the tragic deaths of 20 children at a dormitory of a secondary school last month.

“We are finalizing the TOR (Terms of Reference) right now.  I have a meeting before the end of this week with the team. I can tell you that I have identified Major General Joe Singh to lead that team. So, I will have a meeting with him before the end of this week,” Ali told reporters.

The fire on May 21 resulted at the Mahdia Secondary School, 100 miles southwest of Georgetown, leaving 19 girls and one boy dead and several others injured.

One of the students has since been charged with murder and remanded to a juvenile detention center pending trial.

President Ali said he would also be meeting “with the family members of the Mahdia fire to discuss some outstanding issues”.

Opposition legislator Ganesh Mahipaul said he had submitted a parliamentary motion calling for a Commission of Inquiry to be launched into the fire.

The opposition motion also calls for the National Assembly to call on the government to declare the place where 20 children lost their lives, to be a historical memorial site.

The motion explained that the Ministry of Education collaborated with UNICEF in 2021 to develop comprehensive gender-sensitive standards for dormitory schools in Guyana, ensuring comfortable, safe, resilient learning and living spaces.

The motion further explained that although the report made some critical recommendations, those recommendations were not taken on board, and the report was never made public.

CMC/