The fallout from the Brickdam fire

Jul 28, 2009 Editorial

The most talked about event is the fallout from the fire that destroyed the Ministry of Health. Yesterday two men were placed before the courts and others are still wanted. This is remarkably quick work by the police whose ranks must have been bolstered over the years.
Perhaps the most significant development has to be the link between the police investigative arm and the Guyana Defence Force because at no time could the -police alone have found the perpetrators in such quick order. We know that units of the Guyana Defence Force picked up the first suspect and things snowballed after that.
There are the skeptics who feel that the arrests have been influenced by the $25 million floated by President Bharrat Jagdeo mere hours after the Ministry went up in flames. And indeed this might have been an influence. Money is always an incentive.
What is amazing is the alacrity with which the police moved to arrest a number of people, some of them very young boys whose link to the situation might have been because they lived in the community.
Having noted that fact, one must now look at who might have had an intention to destroy the building and for what purpose. Yesterday, the Home Affairs Minister hinted that there was a political motive behind the destruction of the Ministry. If indeed there was, then the political party that caused it, seriously miscalculated.

The Ministry is one of the few that operated across racial and political borders. Poor people use its services and they are the ones who will suffer. They are the people who must rely on the free drugs and the free service. They are the people who need the services of the Ministry when they have to undergo surgery.
The leadership of the main opposition parties have all denied any knowledge but the Home Affairs Minister is saying that his information is cast in stone—that it is beyond reproof. In short, he is saying that it cannot be more authentic. Is this the season when the political parties play games with each other to the detriment of the country? Minister Clement Rohee is sending a message that the offices of the Guyana Elections Commission could be next. That adds a different dimension; that suggests that someone wants to derail the elections machinery.
We are of the view that there is more to the Ministry fire than meets the eye. The authorities got an offer from the United States Southern Command one day after the fire but from all appearances, the invitation might not have been treated with any urgency because this foreign expertise is still to come.
At the same time, the compound has been subjected to a clean-up of sorts that suggests that any evidence might have been tampered with. Perhaps the experts could still come and find something that might have eluded the local investigators.

Another feature that has not escaped notice is the fact that none of the security guards who man the nearby buildings was taken into custody for questioning. It has been established that whoever set the fire had to get past the security guards. There are no reports that the guards saw anything.
Were the guards in cahoots with the arsonists? Were they all asleep at their posts? If
either is the case then these guards should not be on the job. The employer would do well to find replacements although there is the view that the replacements would not be much better.
But the most serious issue at hand has to be the reported involvement of politicians, whether they are of the leadership of their parties or fringe elements. If the government is so certain then there should have been arrests. It would have done the nation some good to see the politicians being brought to book. If this is not done then we will be forced to assume that the allegation was nothing more than that—something to score political points.
Meanwhile, with the charges, we await the evidence and we also await words on the distribution of the $25 million reward. In an earlier instance we had said that the money should not go to the disciplined forces because there was the risk of making them mercenaries. That warning fell on deaf ears. It may have fallen on deaf ears again.

Discover more from Kaieteur News

Subscribe to get the latest posts sent to your email.

Latest News