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Documents burnt after audit ordered on Corentyne Water Users Association
The 52/74 Water Users Association office at 63 Village where a section of the building inside was burnt
The Number 52/74 Water Users Association (WUA) office at Number 63 Village is out of electricity after a section of the building was burnt, causing damage to several important documents in the building, one day before an election.
According to second in charge of the New Amsterdam Fire Station and the officer responsible for operations, Clive McDonald, from initial indications the fire appears to be electrical in origin.
He said that it appears there was an overload in the electrical system but the investigations have not yet been completed.
According to the Chairman of the Association, Nizam Rajab, the fire reportedly began around noon on Friday.
It was a passerby who noticed the smoke emanating from the building, prompting a response by the fire service. But by then, the flames were raging in the office where it reportedly started.
The building was saved. However, key financial and other records were reduced to ashes.
What seemed even more alarming was the fact that the fire occurred a day before the elections and also when an audit report was requested by the Prime Minister’s representative Gobin Harbhajan for the period 2012-2018.
This request was made after farmers who are also members of the WUA complained of mismanagement of funds and fraudulent activities, Harbhajan said.
The PM representative also stated that the audit was requested in the presence of the an attorney for the National Drainage and Irrigation Authority (NDIA), and a representative from the Number 63 WUA office.
NDIA would as part of arrangements transfer millions of dollars in subvention to the WUA.
A source told this publication that the fire seems “very fishy” after he noticed two computer monitors face down on the table in the burnt office and records that were supposed to be secured in boxes were on the table.
He opined that the office members “were worried that they might get a new Chairman and he might not want to tolerate the nonsense that they doing there. Dem na want the audit do.”
The fire service is still investigating.
Meanwhile, the election took place yesterday and Nizam Rajab remains the Chairman, but a new Vice Chairman was elected.
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