Fire Chief Kalamadeen Edoo has been sent on leave mere days after the Guyana Fire Service’s poor performance in battling the fire that destroyed more than 80 per cent of the Brickdam Police Station.
Based on information, Edoo has been ordered to take his outstanding leave.
When contacted, Home Affairs Minister Robeson Benn confirmed that Edoo has proceeded on leave but did not divulge any further details.
Benn had told other sections of the media, that Edoo needed “some time and space.”
Edoo came in for heavy criticism following the poor performance on Saturday by President, Irfaan Ali who stated his disappointment.
“We spent hundreds of millions of dollars, and to put it crudely, you can’t respond to events in your backyard. And the response is not about asset, you know; the response is about attitude, it’s about commitment, it’s about discipline, it’s about professionalism, it’s about being in a state of readiness,” the President had said.
However, with Edoo to proceed on leave, he will hand over to Deputy Chief Fire Officer – Gregory Wickham.
It was reported that smoke was seen emanating from the eastern end of the Brickdam Police Station on Saturday – an area which housed the Region Four ‘A’ Division Headquarters, just before 11:00h. However, minutes later, first responders arrived on the scene; but by then the flames had already spiralled out of control, consuming a significant portion of the three-storey structure.
Dozens of firefighters fought the raging inferno utilising eight tenders. But within a short time, the 100-year-old wooden building crumbled. One man who was in the lockups had since confessed to setting the facility alight by using mattress, lighter and a piece of wire.
