Gov’t provides aid to Sophia fire victims

The Ministry of Social Protection on Tuesday presented a quantity of relief items to five families, who suffered losses after their Section ‘B’, Sophia apartment was destroyed by fire on Sunday.

The presentation was done by Minister Amna Ally at her Lamaha Street office.

Minister Ally expressed her heartfelt regret to the distraught families, according to a statement from the Ministry.

“We present to you some relief items so that at least you can start somewhere, and we trust that you are going to be able to rebuild… we are really sorry about what happened,” she was quoted in the statement.

The items, which included kitchen utensils, a kerosene stove, a double mattress, sheets and pillow cases, which were given to each of the families, were obtained through the Ministry’s Difficult Circumstances Unit.

In expressing her gratitude, one recipient, Ms. Tamara Fraser, thanked the Government of Guyana for providing her with a “fresh start” as she takes steps to rebuild.  “I’m thankful for the help because everything was destroyed, the bed and everything… right now I have to get somewhere to go,” she said.

The wooden and concrete house at ‘B’ Field Sophia went up in flames at around 14:00hrs on Sunday.

Businessman Sean Gittens who owns the property told the News Room on Monday that the building took him more than a decade and $30M to build and was being rented to several families.

The fire started, reportedly in an empty room in the back of the 8-apartment building but the cause of the fire is still unknown.