The fire next time

Jul 29, 2009 Editorial

The dust has obviously not quite settled on the fire that razed the Ministry of Health’s (MOH) building to the ground but the fallout has already raised a deep foreboding in the minds of most Guyanese.
Guyana has not had a good track record with fires – especially when they appear to have been sparked by a bit more than the arsonists’ usual pyrotechnics.
When politics is involved the fire gets particularly hot and we know to our cost that it can very quickly spread, literally and figuratively, into the rest of society.
The MOH fire was at first greeted with a strong dose of scepticism, if not cynicism. This reaction was a regrettable upshot of an unfortunate series of events – ranging from allegations of financial irregularities to the Minister being fingered as being connected to the operations of a self-confessed drug dealer – that severely damaged what was once thought of as one of the better-functioning Ministries in the present administration.
Some felt that the fire had to be an “inside job” designed to cover a paper/electronic trail that would have brought down several “big ones”.
The President’s quick offer of a $25 million reward for information that would bring in the perpetrators, while in the normal course of events might have been seen as the reaction of a Chief Executive concerned with getting to the bottom of a tragedy, simply generated even more scepticism.
“Bounty Hunters are being created!” protested those who had been appalled by the “take no prisoners” approach of the Disciplined Forces when rewards were announced by the President on previous occasions of depraved crimes.
The quick but brutal action after the present fire by the same forces in apprehending and interrogating their first suspect did nothing to allay those fears but as a matter of fact merely broadened and deepened them. It is felt that the President’s strong statement on the nature and cause of the fire coupled with his reward offer might serve to inordinately influence those who are supposed to seek justice to move in only one particular direction.
The Minister of Home Affairs has now solidified that train of thought by emphatically declaring that “opposition elements” are behind the MOH fire as the “intellectual authors”.
Without the Minister or the Police naming those “intellectual authors”, the Minister’s assertion serves only to influence the police to look in one particular direction.
If the Minister, as he claims, has enough “incontrovertible” evidence to make the statement at this time, then he should be in a position to name names or he falls into the same category of the President who has for years been “throwing talk” that he has a video of opposition elements consorting with the Buxton gunmen.
Now that the net of suspects and detainees has widened – inevitably so, claim the “Bounty Hunters’ sceptics – we are witnessing a broader array of individuals and groups in society that are becoming involved in drawing a line in the sand against the administration because of the heavy-handed approach utilised by the security forces.
It is very probable that the administration’s intelligence may be correct in asserting that wider political mischief may be afoot but it would do well to remember the outcome of the last deployment the “scorched earth” response by the police.
It precipitated the East Coast violence with Buxton as the epicentre.
The administration, especially those in charge of national security, needs to take a deep breath and to decide coolly as to what is the best course to proceed in the present circumstances.
We believe that as a first step, the political directorate ought to disengage from their high-profile involvement in the pursuit of the perpetrators of the MOH fire. Let the professionals do their job.
Secondly, the powers that be ought to unequivocally denounce the use of torture by the disciplined forces in their necessary interrogations. This is not professional. Thirdly, and finally, they ought accept the offer of the US Southern Command to assist in the investigation. Southcom would be seen as an impartial body without axes to grind.
To proceed on the present course would be to court “the fire next time”. Guyana might not be capable of surviving it.

Latest News

The fire next time

Related

Similar Articles

The Glenn Lall Show|| April, 11th, 2025

Follow on Tik Tok @Glennlall

THE BLUNT OF THE DAY

Sports

FL Sport provides financial boost to Guyana U-15 quartet

Guyanese golfers Hussain, Arjune to attend 2025...

Quarterfinal showdowns set in Milo/Massy U18...

Lusignan Golf Club: A Premier Destination for...

Paul misses century as Red Force trail by 122

National 9-Ball Pool championship cues off today

Features/Columnists

Mashing an ants’ nest

The U.S. “Joining” the Commonwealth: an unreasonable expectation

Relax, fellow Guyanese

Publisher’s Note

Weekend Cartoon

Bridge Watch

Demerara Harbour Bridge

> Berbice Bridge […]

The fire next time

Share this:

Related

Similar Articles

The Glenn Lall Show|| April, 11th, 2025

Follow on Tik Tok @Glennlall

THE BLUNT OF THE DAY

Sports

Features/Columnists

Publisher’s Note

Weekend Cartoon

Bridge Watch

Demerara Harbour Bridge

> Berbice Bridge […]