Guyanese President Irfaan Ali said confronting the challenge of the Mahdia fire has been the hardest task of his presidency. As the country struggles to cope with the deaths of the 19 children, Ali said counselling is being provided for the families of the victims, the surviving children, and the community.
Eighteen girls and a five-year-old boy were killed in a fire at a dormitory at the Mahdia Secondary School in Guyana on Sunday. The boy, Adonijah Jerome, lived with his parents, who were the caretakers, in an apartment next to the dormitory.
In a Facebook live on News Room, Ali said a full team of psychiatrists, psychological counsellors, and social workers have been assembled to provide counselling for all the students, their families, and teachers, and members of the communities they came from.
“We have four teams working every day out of Mahdia and we want to ensure these teams remain in place for the next three months. We have teams also at the hotel where we have family members and parents of those in hospital and those who came out to identify the bodies of their children. We have a high-level team of doctors that will be posted to Mahdia for the next three months to provide specialised care and support their colleagues there in the work they are doing.”
He said full and unconditional support would be given to every single family and child affected.
“This support is not only medical, but immediate financial, transportation, meals. It will go far beyond this. While we appreciate and welcome all the offers of support, I want to assure all the families of all Guyanese that the government will support all these families as needed. We have assigned Cabinet members to every single family member to give direct support and to ensure they are offered all we can offer in this tremendous hour of their need.”
He said some families had requested financial compensation and this would be dealt with, and there was no need for this to become an issue, as the families had raised it and the government would respond.
Ali said the fire service and police would release subsequent reports on their investigations.
He encouraged everyone to participate in the national night of vigil on Tuesday, and said the flower-laying ceremony at the Madhia Hostel on Wednesday would be attended by ambassadors, honourary councillors, and high commissioners stationed in Guyana.
“Our Independence Celebration will now take the form of a night of remembrance and prayers in memory of our children. These Independence celebrations will now be dedicated to prayer and remembrance of our beautiful children of Guyana.
Ali posted the names of the victims on his social media on Tuesday. They were: Bibi Rita Fiona Jeffery, 13; Sabrina John, 16; Loreen Evans, 14; Belnisa Evans, 13, all from Karisparu; Mary and Martha Dandrade, 15; Omefa Edwin; Eulanda Carter, from Chenapau; and Natalie Bellarmine; Andrea Roberts, 13; Lorita Williams; Nickleen Robinson; Sherena Daniels; Lisa Roberts; Cleoma Simon; Tracil Thomas; Adonija Jerome, 5; Delecia
