Latest update February 2nd, 2026 12:59 AM
Four Berbice properties demolished by fire in one week
Kaieteur News – A spate of fire-related incidents in New Amsterdam over the last week has seen four properties being completely destroyed by fire.
Of these four instances, two have been ruled suspected arson, while one was determined to be electrical in origin and the other so far uncertain. Notably, no one was harmed in any of these cases.
January 3, Ministry of Labour former building
Penitentiary Walk fire
Ministry of Labour former building
Palmyra
In New Amsterdam, Berbice, a building previously occupied by the Ministry of Labor at Princess Elizabeth Road, was completely ravaged by fire on January 3
The building also formerly housed offices for the Ministry of Human Services and Social Security, as well as the Ministry of Agriculture, for access to those services in the region.
Fire officials in New Amsterdam reportedly received a call just after 9:00pm informing them of a building on fire, not too far from the Berbice High School (BHS).
Firemen with two units from the New Amsterdam Fire Service rushed to the scene, but by the time they arrived, the entire building was already engulfed. They did manage, however, to contain the blaze, preventing damages to nearby buildings.
Divisional Officer Clive McDonald disclosed that based on initial assessment, the fire was electrical in origin. However, one security guard stationed at a nearby residence told this publication that he frequently observed persons, mostly vagrants, entering and exiting the premises.
January 8, Penitentiary Walk, New Amsterdam
Just around 21:00 hrs. on January 9, fire destroyed a two-story building located at Penitentiary Walk in a yard that accommodated two buildings. The wooden and concrete rented house, was gutted not long after tenants had cleared out from the location.
Reporters were informed that the property was recently acquired and works and demolition works had begun. One of the buildings was already demolished, and works on the other were ongoing.
The owner told reporters that he left the location around 5:30 and while at home sleeping, he was awoken by his wife with news that the property was on fire.
January 10, Palmyra
Meanwhile, just beyond the bounds of New Amsterdam, another residential property was decimated by fire, this time at Palmyra Village, East Canje, Berbice.
Fortunately, the building was at the time uninhabited. The owner of the two-story building, Prithiraj Singh, is currently in the United States.
At 3:19 on January 10, an emergency call was placed to the New Amsterdam Fire Station relative to a fire at Lot 35, Palmyra, according to Divisional Head, Clive McDonald
Two units were quickly dispatched to the location, where the firemen managed to prevent an extension of the fire to other properties.
The fire official disclosed that the fire was intentionally set to the wooden and concrete home.
January 11, Angoy’s Avenue
At Levi Dam in Angoy’s Avenue, New Amsterdam, a fire quickly demolished a small property owned by Rasheed Sinclair, a 30-year-old farmer.
At the scene, the distraught man told media operatives that he was at home when someone shouted to him that his home was on fire. He ignored the first alert, but the second shout, which carried more distress, prompted him to investigate, which confirmed that indeed his house was ablaze. By then, the fire was too much for him to contain.
“I couldn’t handle it, to say is a lil thing so I could shy a bucket of water to out it,” Sinclair told reporters.
The New Amsterdam Fire Station responded and extinguished the flames which had already consumed Sinclair’s home. The residence is next to the New Amsterdam School of Nursing.
Divisional Head, Clive McDonald, summarised that the fire was an act of arson. His conclusion was supported by Sinclair, who noted that a fire cannot be without a logical origin. Sinclair noted that his property did not have electricity. He was also not cooking at the time.
Structural upgrades to the home began last November by Sinclair’s overseas-based mother, who left the country only two days ago.
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