Aftermath of Thursday's inferno-
Over $1Billion in damage, 150 workers without jobs
By Mark Ramotar and Michel Outridge
Guyana Chronicle
November 15, 2003
THURSDAY night's massive blaze, which destroyed three business places has left in its wake more than $1 Billion in losses and has tossed on the breadline approximately 150 employees of Auto Supplies, Royal Castle and Mohamed's Enterprise. Businessmen affected are now contemplating their next move after such a devastating occurrence.
Curious Guyanese joined the affected employees and owners and managers of the gutted Hadfield and Lombard Streets premises to observe the still smoking rubble of the catastrophe. The air was acrid with the odor of burnt materials and the buildings that housed them.
What began as a spark at about 10:30 o'clock Thursday night, when a container truck reportedly ran into an electric pole and burst a power transmission line, ended in a fire of massive proportions a few hours later. The premises of Auto Supplies Company, Royal Castle and Mohamed's Enterprise were all razed or gutted.
An employee of Royal Castle, who had been working late, said yesterday that the fire had started from an area at the back of Auto Supplies. The blaze then spread to Royal Castle.
Ironically, Mohamed's Enterprise, in an advertisement placed in this newspaper prior to the tragedy, announced its grand anniversary sale for this month with prices being slashed on all items including ladies, gents and children's clothing, jewelry, colognes, watches and other gift items, household and electrical appliances, and many other items.
Yesterday, staff of Mohamed's Enterprise showed up for work only to find that the merchandise all burnt up and the structure gutted.
Employee Safraz Hussein, who told the Guyana Chronicle that he is the accountant of the company, and estimated millions in losses.
Proprietor, Mr. Nazir Mohammed, could not be contacted for a comment, but it was pointed out that his building housed a Cambio, a travel service and an Internet café.
Mr. Brian James, joint proprietor of Royal Castle and Auto Supplies, who was at the scene at the time of the tragic fire, said yesterday morning that he is totally devastated by the fire.
James also admitted that he had not spoken to personnel of the Guyana Fire Service, but that an official from that Service had asked him to give a sketch of the Royal Castle and Auto Supplies buildings.
He estimated his losses into hundreds of millions of dollars.
"It is a tremendous loss in the Auto Supplies building. We had new and used vehicles, appliances, tyres, furniture, spare parts, air conditioning units and other equipment...in fact lots of equipment," said James.
He also said he lost two cars (the Group A & B cars that participated in the races recently). He pointed out that the building was insured. He said that it is possible that he would be able to recover and rebuild.
James further indicated that between the two establishments, jobs were provided for about120 persons.
He said that Auto Supplies opened its doors about 55 to 60 years ago. It was originally constructed in the 1940s.
Supervisor of Royal Castle Ms Bernadette Byass said that she joined the company since it opened five years ago and can't believe that the building is no more.
Ms Byass said that the fire began very small and could have been put out if the Fire Service had water to douse the flames. Persons, who had converged on the scene on Thursday night, had also lamented the failure of the Guyana Fire Service to contain the blaze before it engulfed such a huge section of the block. But a Fire Service rank, who asked to remain anonymous, said the damage might have been worse, with people being injured or worse if they had hosed water on the fire before electricity to the buildings had been switched off.
Numerous efforts by this newspaper to solicit a comment from the Fire Department yesterday proved futile. However, the Secretary to the Fire Chief indicated (with much hesitancy) that an investigation into the cause of the fire has been launched by the Fire Department.
Meanwhile, Executive Director of the Private Sector Commission (PSC), Mr. Bal Persaud, in a statement yesterday, indicated that the PSC is very saddened by the tremendous losses experienced by its former Chairman, Mr. Brian James and former Treasurer, Mr. Edward Boyer and other businessmen in the Hadfield and Lombard Streets fire.
"Coming at this time of the year, we are only too aware of the impact this unfortunate occurrence would have on the owners and employees. We profoundly empathise with you all and hope that you remain strong," the PSC statement said.
The PSC also indicated that it is confident that, despite the challenges, those affected will be able to recover and rebuild. The PSC urged its membership and the business community in general to assist in whatever way they can.
Mr Brian James, in his comments to this newspaper, had also alluded to the fact that although his companies pay their utility bills, yet there was no water in the hydrants to extinguish the fire.
When contacted yesterday for a comment, the Public Relations Officer of the Guyana Water Incorporated (GWI), Ms. Audreyanna Thomas, declined to comment on whether the hydrants had water or not. She, however, told this newspaper that GWI has launched an investigation, the findings of which will be released on Monday.
Meanwhile, the Guyana Power and Light Incorporated (GPL) said Thursday night's incident at the Hadfield and Lombard Streets junction in downtown Georgetown, which demolished the three business premises, has also inconvenienced thousands of GPL customers in the Stabroek/Werk-en-Rust area.
In a statement, Public Relations Officer of GPL, Ms. Marjorie Chester, indicated that a detailed assessment of the damage to the company's primary and secondary network in the area was being conducted and that replacement equipment were being mobilised to repair the damaged sections.
According to Chester, the entire feeder that extends from Access Road to Cornhill Street was affected. She said GPL has to replace at least two poles on the primary network and two on the secondary, several pole spans of conductors (wire) and pole top equipment, which may include the transformers that feed the circuit.
Ms Chester indicated that work is expected to be completed and the affected consumers re-powered by 19:00 hrs yesterday. However, engineers are cautious about the transformer, which cannot be tested until power is restored. If it is damaged, a small portion of the affected area that includes the former GNCB building and the Ministry of Human Services and Social Security may not be re-powered immediately, she said.
"GPL wishes to assure our customers that the repairs to the network are guided by the company's obligation to its customers to restore power as soon as possible," the statement added.
Proprietor of DIDCO and franchise-holder for KFC in Guyana, Mr. Deo Singh, in an invited comment, expressed his profound sadness at the destruction cause by the fire. He also had words of encouragement for the businesses affected, especially Royal Castle, one of KFC's main competitors.
"It is very unfortunate what has happened, but I would like to encourage them to have faith and to rebuild as soon as possible," James told the Chronicle in a telephone comment.
It is also understood that there was some amount of looting during the fire, although this could not be confirmed.
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