Mahdia CoI team to be named, sworn in this week

PRESIDENT, Dr. Irfaan

Ali, on Monday, announced that this Wednesday, the Commissioners for the Commission of Inquiry (CoI) into the deadly Mahdia “dorm” fire, which claimed the lives of 20 children, will be announced and by the end of this week, they will be sworn in.

The President made this announcement when he was questioned by reporters on the sidelines of an event at the Arthur Chung Conference Centre.

President Ali told reporters: “Yes definitely,” adding that by the end of this week, he intends to name the full team and swear them in.

The Head of State went on to say that stakeholders are finalising the names, and then they will proceed.

In June, President Ali announced that retired Chiefof-Staff of the Guyana Defence Force (GDF), Major General Joe Singh, will head the team that will conduct the inquiry into the deadly fire.

On May 22, just a few days before Guyana celebrated Independence Day, a tragic fire gutted the Mahdia Secondary School’s female dormitory. At the time of the fire, 56 of the girls were present, as three had gone home with their families for the weekend.

The children housed at the ‘dorms’ came from the communities of Karisparu, El Paso, Micobie and Chenapao.

Initially, 18 girls from the “dorm” and a five- year-old boy, who was the son of the ‘Dorm Mother’, perished in the fire, but a 20th student who was injured in the fire, passed away a few days later.

President Ali had committed to the launching of a CoI to investigate the causes and circumstances of the deadly Mahdia fire, and guide the way forward.