The former Regional Education Officer (REDO) for Region 8, Annesta Douglas took the stand at the Mahdia School Dorm Commission of Inquiry today and admitted that she never read the fire inspection report on the Mahdia Secondary School Male and Female Dormitories, which was completed months before the deadly fire back in May.

She told the Commission of Inquiry that although the report was listed as “urgent” by the Officer in Charge of Mahdia Fire Station, she left the report on her desk for more than a week as she addressed other issues and prepared for her departure from the Region after being told of her transfer.

“I put it there because I had lots of things that I was doing. So, I had it there, hoping to maybe to get an opportunity [to review it] but really and truly at that time, my focus was on my removal to hand over and not on that report, my focus shifted from the report to handing over the department,” Douglas told the Mahdia Commission of Inquiry (COI) when she took the stand today.

The report, which detailed the urgent need for fire alarm systems, fire extinguishers and smoke detectors to be installed at the dorms, in addition to the removal of the grills from the windows of the dorms, was submitted to Douglas on February 7, 2023 by Fire Officer Ryan Scott– three months before disaster struck at the female dorm.

According to Douglas, she read the report today for the very first time.

She told the Commission of Inquiry that in normal circumstances, she would have discussed the findings of the report with the Regional Executive Officer (REO), Peter Ramotar. However, at the time it was received, he was not in the district.

Douglas explained that a day after she received the report, she became overtaken by the news that she was being reassigned to the Ministry of Education (Central) yet again.

“I endured one year of humiliation, mental stress, torture, pain, hurts, and I sat at that desk among clerks under harsh conditions and so, when I heard I was going to be reassigned again, it took a toll on me,” Douglas said.

Douglas had served as the REDO for Region Three, but at the start of 2021, she was reassigned to the Ministry of Education. It was in January 2022 that she was assigned to Mahdia, Region 8.

Douglas explained that upon receiving her letter of reassignment from the REO on February 9, 2023, she was instructed to hand over the department in one week, and a request by her for an extension was denied.

“Upset” and “angry” at the decision to reassign her, Douglas said she simply redirected all of her attention to the process of handing over the Department of Education.

Counsel to the Commission, Keoma Griffith submitted that her failure to act on the report submitted by the Fire Station resulted in the death of 20 children when the female dorm went up in flames on May 21, 2023, but she rejected such a submission.

Douglas maintained that she was instructed to hand over the Education Department in one week and that was her primary focus. But despite being grilled by the Commission on what prevented her from handing over the report to the REO or any other regional official, she maintained she was busy preparing to hand over the department.    

“I was preparing to leave. I was working on handing over my government quarters and handing over the Department of Education because that was deemed as urgent,” she told the Commission.

But Douglas’ explanation did not sit well with any of the Commissioners, with the Chairman, Major General (Ret’d) Joe Singh telling her she had ample time to act on the report but she did nothing. 

“Your interpretation of priority and urgency seems to differ from our interpretation because the Counsel pointed out to you that this is a life-or-death matter, he stressed that. It’s in the report, Mr Scott stressed that to you, you acknowledged that and yet you did not see it fit to take the necessary action to deal with this matter as a sense of urgency. You are now sheltering, in a sense, under the umbrella that you were absorbed in your imminent transfer but not explaining why it is you did not deal with a priority matter, life or death matter and you had, in my view, ample time from the time you received that report,” the Chairman told Douglas.

The former REDO told the Commission that upon leaving the Department, she handed over all of the documents requiring urgent attention to the Deputy Regional Executive Officer (DREO) Shawn Britton including the fire inspection report.

But Britton, who took the witness stand immediately after Douglas, said he received no such report. According to him, it was not until the fire had occurred that he learnt that a report was submitted to the former REDO. However, when the office of the REDO was searched no such report was found.

Britton said he then had to request a copy of the report from the Officer in Charge of the Mahdia Fire Station, and that was after the tragedy.

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