Posh Mahaicony mansion goes up in flames

Sep 25, 2013 News

Imagine expending all your energy to build your dream home but never getting the chance to really enjoy living in it because of the devastating effects of fire.

What remains of the multi-million-dollar villa at Mahaicony.

That’s the reality facing 54-year-old Monica Manohar, whose sprawling countryside two-storey villa at Lot 7 Cottage, Mahaicony, East Coast Demerara, went up in flames early yesterday morning. Losses have been estimated in the tens of millions.
Manohar was not at home at the time of the fire and collapsed at the sight that greeted her when she turned up several hours later.
The woman had left her house since Saturday and was spending some time in Berbice with relatives, when she got the news.
Neighbours recalled seeing fire in the house around 00:30 hours yesterday.
One neighbour to the eastern side told this newspaper that he was awakened by his son who told him that Manohar’s house was on fire. The man said that he looked out and saw fire in the house after which he ran onto the road where a number of persons had already gathered.
He said that because the property was properly secured, coupled with the heat emanating from the building, all the neighbours could do was watch helplessly as the blaze raged through first the upper flat and then the lower section of the massive edifice.
“Nobody couldn’t go in; we stand there until it (fire) finish around two-thirty,” the neighbour stated.
In the meantime, a fire-fighting unit from the Mahaica Station a few miles away, had arrived on the scene and ranks did their best to extinguish the blaze.
By the time they were finished, the property was completely gutted.
“The fire truck had water, but that finish in about fifteen minutes,” another neighbour told Kaieteur News.
The neighbours are baffled as to the cause of the fire, since they claimed that Manohar who travels overseas frequently, would not normally leave on any of her electrical appliances whenever she leaves the premises, particularly when she goes overseas.
The house was equipped with several air condition units among other expensive electrical appliances.
Manohar, although devastated, spoke to this newspaper yesterday, claiming that she spent seven years constructing her dream house, only to see it go up in flames.
This newspaper was informed that this is the third time that fire struck the house, but on the two previous occasions, Manohar was at home and disaster was averted.
The woman told Kaieteur News that she heard from neighbours that the fire was first seen in the kitchen area of the house where her refrigerator which she had left on Saturday was situated.
However, she stopped short of suggesting a possible cause of the fire.
“I cannot say what caused the fire. Let me be honest with you, I don’t have any enemies and I don’t have problems with nobody. Where I live, everybody respects me. I leave my home for two and three months and go abroad and come back and nothing never happen. For the year I spend seven months overseas and the other five months in Guyana,” Manohar explained.
According to woman, she did not hear about the fire as it was raging since she was in Berbice where there was an extended blackout and her cellular phone had gone dead, and she was unaware that persons were trying to contact her.
When she awoke yesterday and checked her phone, which by then was fully charged, there were 14 missed calls.
“I called the first number and the person told me that they were trying to contact me all the time. He told me that he had bad news for me.”
Manohar said that the person told her that there was a fire at her house, but she was not told the extent of the damage. It was not until she arrived on the scene that she saw what was left of her house.
Incidentally, the house, which was uninsured, was up for sale and according to a source, a deal was supposed to be closed next week.
“She already had a buyer,” a source in the Mahaicony area told this newspaper.
For Manohar, she is not contemplating repairing the house, a task which could take millions of dollars.
“I am finished,” she said.
The Fire Department and police are still investigating with a view to determining what caused the fire.

4 thoughts on “Posh Mahaicony mansion goes up in flames”

Ashley Singh September 25, 2013 at 7:40 am

It was a very beautiful house and a most shameless act by those responsible for its destruction. I hope that they are eventually caught, convicted and put away for life
1. Besmart September 25, 2013 at 7:45 pm
  
  No one knows if this fire was intentional or was caused by some electrical short in the building..so why make such a statement.
Salma September 25, 2013 at 11:46 am

If it’s your dream home, why is it up for sale and why is it uninsured?
sun September 25, 2013 at 2:33 pm

Let’s stop and think here.

According to the owner of the house Monica Manohar she is 54 years old and she took 7 years to build this Dream House Mansion that means she was 47 years old when she started building this Mansion.
Where does a 47 year old woman get the kind of money to build such a house in Guyana, and if it was ‘Hard Earned” money wouldn’t you at least “INSURE” your dream house that you build with your ‘HARD EARNED” money you made over approximate 20 years work life. Come on lady try this with un-educated people.
EASY COME EASY GO, that’s what should happen to all ill gotten gains.