A fire broke out on Saturday in the Finance Complex, the building that house the Office of the Prime Minister. (Internet photo)
KINGSTOWN, St. Vincent – Fire fighters here were Saturday evening summoned to the Administrative Centre, which houses the Office of the Prime Minister and other government departments, to put out a fire there.
Tongues of flames and black smoke spewed out of the third floor of the building, commonly called the Financial Complex, which is located on the Reclamation Site, a few hundred metres from the Fire Department.
Reports say that the fire was contained to the third floor of the building in a section that houses the Ministry of Planning.
The Office of the Prime Minister is located on the fifth floor of the complex, which also houses the Cabinet Room, along with the ministries of Foreign Affairs, Trade, and the Treasury Department.
I Witness News was unable to ascertain the cause of the fire or the extent and value of the damage to the building.
Workers at the 20-year-old complex last year used standing fans as government officials met with contractors to discuss the scope of works to be done on the air-conditioning system, which was “at a stage where it must be replaced,” according to a Ministry of Finance official.
Meanwhile, well-placed sources say a man in Troumaca in the North Leeward constituency on Saturday chopped up his common law wife and their daughter before setting their house on fire.
Reports say that younger of the women was pulled from the house but her condition and that of her mother were not immediately known.
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THAT SECTION OF THE BUILDING THAT WAS BURNT , HOUSE,S THE EDF OFFICE AND PART OF FINANCE DEPARTMENT, COULD ANY ONE TELL SVG IF IT IS A FACT THE EDF FUNDS PAY PUBLIC WORKERS LAST MONTH? THERE IS THAT ROUMOR GOING AROUND.
Posted by METOO | October 15, 2011, 23:19Thats not the third floor, that the second from the ground, planning is on the first , finance is on the second , foreign affairs is the third and the pm is the fourth, the ground is treasury,
Posted by worker | October 15, 2011, 23:22Thank you for your update
Posted by smooth | October 16, 2011, 07:44That depends if we are talking UK ground floor known in US as 1st floor, which is it UK or US terminology. Once we determine this we can work out whether there is the possibility of ministry of finance records being destroyed by fire or otherwise.
When things get financially difficult in American and European city’s the instance of office, warehouse and shop fires increase dramatically. These fires are called fires of convenience.
Of course I am not making any such similarity between fires in SVG and convenience fires elsewhere, just imparting some interesting information.
We must await the statement from the government as to what took place and what was destroyed, if any records were destroyed.
Posted by Peter | October 16, 2011, 10:22