Georgetown: President David Granger and the Government of Guyana empathise with Mr. Sattaur Gafoor, the Gafoor family and members and staff of the company on their recent loss due to fire at the company’s Houston complex.
According to the Ministry of the Presidency, the Government of Guyana regrets the tremendous financial loss and is deeply concerned about the hundreds of workers that have been displaced due to this disastrous event.
“Gafsons Industries Limited is an iconic member of Guyana’s corporate community and extremely important to the economic health of the nation. The Government of Guyana is profoundly saddened and extends wishes for a speedy rebuilding process,” the Ministry noted.
On Monday, hundreds of persons are now jobless after a massive fire, said to be electrical in origin, gutted the Gafoors Houston Complex yesterday afternoon, leaving in its wake billions of dollars in losses.
The fire, recorded as one of the largest and most costly in recent years, has reduced several bonds as well as electrical and other departments, including an administrative block of the hardware giant, to rubble.
Thick smoke was seen swirling above bond Number Three as staff were preparing to sign off from work for the day. The fire then spread through the bonds, reducing to ash seven bonds, and the offices and hardware departments at the front of the complex. A section of the complex, which was under construction, was at one point threatened by the flames, but the fire was contained some three hours later.
At the scene shortly after 16:00hrs Monday, staff members were seen scurrying from the building as police and members of a private security firm manned the scene. Firemen were busy connecting hoses to the nearby canals, as hundreds converged at the entrance of the complex where barricades were erected by the police.
During this time, an helicopter belonging to the Guyana Defence Force (GDF) could be seen hovering overhead as traffic along the busy East Bank Demerara thoroughfare slowed to a crawl.
Fire Chief, Marlon Gentle told the media last evening that around 15:50hrs yesterday, the Guyana Fire Service received a call about thick smoke coming from the roof of the complex. He said fire units were dispatched from the Central Fire Station at Stabroek and the West Ruimveldt outpost.
However, when the units arrived at Houston, the firemen reported that the fire was beginning to spread rapidly. “We went up to second and third alarm and ramped all of the available resources in Georgetown that are here right now,” Gentle said.
He told the media at around 19:00hrs last evening that the firemen were in control of the fire, but that the heat was intense. “It’s a bond with various types of combustibles,” he said by way of explaining the tremendous heat the fire was generating.
Gentle noted that there were some safety concerns at the scene of the fire, one of which was the layout of the building. The other was the items stored therein, both of were preventing the firemen from react as readily as they would like to the situation.
He said the firemen were working to prevent the fire from reaching the wharf aback the complex, close to the Demerara River.
Summing up the situation, Gentle said, “This is going to be a long haul,” but was quick to note that there was enough fire equipment on the ground to handle it.
Sattaur Gafoor, Executive Chairman of Gafsons Industries, the parent company of the business, told the media at the scene that he was in his office at the complex when he was informed about the fire.
He said at the time he thought it was a small fire, but when he saw smoke in his office, he was forced to take evasive action. Noting that the bonds were fully stocked, Gafoor, whom staff fondly refer to as ‘Skipper’, said firemen would have a hard time containing the blaze since most of the items were combustible.
A composed Gafoor, who looked on as his business was reduced to ashes, counted his losses as being in the billions. He said that while the building is insured, he was more concerned about the loss of business, the welfare of the 500-plus staff who worked at the complex. “To get things going back again,” he said, “will take more than a year to rebuild.”
Replenishing the stock, he said, will also be difficult, added to which is the fact that all the company’s records were destroyed by the blaze. “We have to reassess our losses,” he said.
As the fire raged, firemen tried desperately to contain the blaze from escaping the bonds. But this would, however, prove difficult, as the fire eventually spread to the office building and another section of the complex which housed the electrical, paint, and office supplies.
At around 17:00hrs, that section of the complex was engulfed in smoke and the firemen were soon faced with another daunting task: The hoses connecting many of the fire tenders to a nearby canal were leaking badly, while there were instances when some hoses bust under the weight of passing vehicles. In addition, the security service and the police were called to the remaining bonds aback the complex, closer to the Demerara River, as reports of looting surfaced.
The police hurried to the scene, and as night stepped in, several barricades were erected aback the complex to prevent bystanders from entering the site.
Around 19:00hrs, the fire was eventually contained to where it started initially.
At the roadside along the public road, dozens of employees either stood or sat along the pavement as they offered words of comfort to each other. Many stared blankly as the fire was brought under control.
The Gafsons Industries has been in the hardware business for some 66 years. The company also operates business complexes at Land of Canaan, further up the East Bank Demerara; at Parika on the East Bank Essequibo; and at Rose Hall on the Corentyne.
From a small business going back to 1957, Sattaur Gafoor built the company to become one of Guyana’s leading distributors and manufacturing entities.
In January 2002, all operations of the company were centralised at the Houston Complex, and as a result of yesterday’s fire, restarting the business would be a monumental task.
Meanwhile, at the company’s request, all employees of the Houston Complex are asked to assemble at the corrugated bond at Houston this morning.
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