No. 45 family displaced in Easter Monday fire seeking help
Ganesh Budhu, the Corentyne rice farmer and his family who lost all of their possessions in a fire on Easter Monday evening are seeking assistance to help rebuild their lives.
Budhu’s wife, Geragie Parath, 33, told Stabroek News on Tuesday, that on Monday, she and her husband and their two children, ages seven and nine, left their Lot 10, Number 45 Village home around 2 pm to go to the Number 63 Beach on a family outing.
“We come back and went to me mother-in-law house in [Number] 59 [Village] and then me get the call that we house on fire,’ a distraught Parath related. She said when they reached at the scene minutes after 7 pm, they noticed that the entire house was already engulfed in flames and no fire tender was present, although they had phoned the fire service on their way over.
“While we were on the way, we called the [Corriverton] fire brigade (but) they phone ring out. We call Georgetown, we call New Amsterdam and tell them. We call back Corriverton, one ah dem still nah pick up,” she lamented.
“We call, call, call and then them pick up the phone, and dem come till after 8 [pm] when everything done burn, then them reach,” Geragie added.
Stabroek News was told that on Monday evening, fire-fighters clashed with angry residents when they arrived on the scene reportedly almost two hours after receiving the phone call. According to the woman, the residents were annoyed, as they believed that had the fire-fighters arrived in a timely manner, part of the two-storey building could have been saved.
Meanwhile, Clive McDonald, Operations Officer at the New Amsterdam Fire Station, was at the scene on Tuesday afternoon, conducting further investigations. While he could not confirm the cause of the fire, he stressed that the investigation is still ongoing.
Budhu and his family are currently staying with a relative and anyone wishing to render assistance can contact the family on telephone numbers 338-1371 and 648-6062.