Fire destroys Medex building at Liliendaal

Mar 19, 2014 News

The Ministry of Health’s Medex building at Liliendaal, East Coast Demerara, was completed destroyed by fire early yesterday morning.
The edifice housed several administrative offices under different departments within the Ministry of Health, including Food Policy and Environmental Health, Veterinary Public Health, Health Sciences Education, and that of Government Parliamentarian and Chairperson of the Women and Gender Equality Commission, Indra Chandarpal.
Speaking with this newspaper, an area resident, Donna Fraser, said that the fire appeared to have started in the upper flat of the old wooden structure shortly after 03:00hrs.

A lone fireman extinguishes the embers following the early morning blaze.

She noted that her household was awoken by a telephone call from a neighbour, who, at around 03:30hrs informed her that the annex was on fire.
“I was actually sleeping, so I didn’t know wha did going on outside, but then my next door neighbour called me to say that the Medex building on fire, so is when I rush out then I see fire blazing at the top of the building on the eastern side,” Fraser recalled.
“By the time I hurry and rush out, people from at the back village did already gather in front and the fire tenders and so was already there,” the woman added.
Fraser and her husband commended the work of the Fire Service, noting that the firefighters did their best, in difficult circumstances, in trying to extinguish the flame.
“The tide did coming in during that time, so the breeze was very, very heavy, and in all honesty, the firemen did all they could ah done to save the building, but there was only so much that they could ah do at that time.”
Fraser told this newspaper that one of the firemen tried desperately to break a window on the building so as to allow water to get to the heart of the fire, but was injured in the process, and had to be taken for medical attention.
“Like he get scorched or something, so the people all help to bandage him up and so, and then they carry him to the hospital. He got some li’l burns, but it wasn’t that serious,” Fraser said.
However, an official of the Guyana Fire Service told Kaieteur News that he was not aware of any firefighter receiving injuries.
Meanwhile, a security guard named “Joe” who is attached to the nearby Ocean View International Hotel said that he was on duty inside the building when someone ran into the hotel shouting “fire! fire! “
“I rush out fuh see how I could help, but I couldn’t do anything, because the whole place did blazing away already,” the guard said.
He noted too that the fire might have started in the upper flat of the two-storey building, since that section was the first to disappear as the fire ravaged the structure.
“Joe” noted that he is currently assisting the Fire Service with their investigation.
“They had nuff things in there, like computers, and medication and equipment and all sorts of things,” Donna Fraser said. It has been noted that the fire has resulted in the millions of dollars in losses.
Efforts to contact the Minister and other officials of the Health Ministry were futile. As such, it is unclear as to where the employees, who once operated in the now destroyed building, will be housed.