Suspicious fire destroys Regent Street businesses

Sep 11, 2015 News

…owners estimate loss at millions of dollars

The gutted Ashok’s building on Regent Street.

Fire Chief Marlon Gentle says the fire that gutted Ashok’s building located at lot 95 Regent and King Streets, Lacytown, Georgetown, is suspicious.

While business owners estimate their losses in the tens of millions of dollars based on ongoing investigations, the Fire Chief said, yesterday, that his team was summoned to the location shortly after midnight. “When we got there we realized that the fire occurred simultaneously in several places on different floors of the building at strategic points,” he told this publication.

When Kaieteur News arrived on the scene yesterday morning, several GTM Insurance agents were with one of the business owners assessing the gutted building.

The Ashok’s Wholesale and Retail Dry Goods building housed Ashok’s and Sabrina’s fashion. The office of the Guyana Real Estate and Insurance Agency was housed on the middle floor.

The building is owned by overseas based Naipaul Ramadar but Hanuman Ghanpat, called Joe, said that he is in charge of the property and as far as he is aware, there was no dispute over the building. He could not say if the fire was electrical or otherwise.

Ghanpat, who has an office in the upper flat, said he left the location at about 16:30hrs on Wednesday afternoon. “Before I leave I make sure all the switches and everything was turned off and I went home.” Everything was okay from his assessment and according to him, he never expected that he would return the next day to a gutted building.

“When I came this morning this is what I see…the whole place burn out.” He said that the building is insured for about $10m, while his computerized office and documents amount to another $10million.

Hanuman Ghanpat called Joe, the man in charge of the building and Fazal Mohamed-owner of Sabrina’s Fashion

He said that he was at home when he was alerted by drainage cleaners just after midnight that the building was on fire. “The drainage men tell me they see smoke coming from the building about 12:30 and people passing called the firefighters.”

However, the fire service ranks were met with the difficulties of grillwork and iron security doors. As such nothing was saved. He said that the building housed two main business tenants who occupied the premises for more than 25 years.

Fazal Mohamed, owner of Sabrina’s Fashion located on the ground floor operated in the location for more than 17 years. He estimates his losses in the tens of millions of dollars.

A distraught Mohamed said that he was stumped about the cause of the fire. He is now resolved to start over his business.

(By Mondale Smith)