STRING OF SUSPICIOUS FIRES FUELS GOSSIP

UNCLAS GEORGETOWN 000954

SIPDIS

SOUTHCOM ALSO FOR POLAD

SENSITIVE
SIPDIS

E.O. 12958: N/A
TAGS: PGOV KDEM GY
SUBJECT: STRING OF SUSPICIOUS FIRES FUELS GOSSIP


1. (SBU) Summary: Unexplained fires have recently damaged a
series of buildings in Georgetown and beyond. Arson is
suspected, but authorities have not determined if there was
foul play. Memories of previous post-election arson and the
nature of the burned properties--two regional government
headquarters, a Guyana Elections Commission (GECOM) building,
government-affiliated media outlets, and an Indo-Guyanese
owned business--have led some to suspect renegade elements
within the losing opposition party, the Afro-Guyanese
identified People's National Congress/Reform (PNC/R).
However, other theories abound--including that the fires were
set by disgruntled civil servants, or started to collect
insurance or cover up government corruption. In the absence
of conclusive forensic evidence, all explanations are
speculative. End summary.


2. (SBU) In the past four weeks, fires have caused extensive
damage to the Region Five and Region Four Administration
Buildings, the National Communications Network (NCN) Linden
TV transmission station, the Guyana Power and Light (GPL)
Garden of Eden generating plant, the GECOM National
Registration Center, a vacant building last occupied by the
state radio station, and a downtown clothing store owned by
an Indo-Guyanese businessman.


3. (SBU) Newly installed Home Affairs Minister Clement Rohee
has promised to prosecute the perpetrators under the
Terrorism Act, should arson be proven. At present, no
official has declared the fires a linked sequence of criminal
actions, and the police have few leads. Nobody has been
killed by the blazes, most of which have occurred at night,
outside of business hours. On the street, almost everybody
guesses that the fires are malicious and connected, but
nobody agrees who set them. Some point fingers at political
troublemakers, perhaps within the PNC/R, but others cite
insurance motives, or accuse the government of wanting to
cover up wrongdoing. GECOM Chairman Steve Surujbally claims
that all of the records destroyed in the flames had been
backed up electronically, but gossipers wonder if somebody
had good reason to incinerate the paper documents, which
included the registration information used to compile the
Official List of Electors for the 2006 elections.


4. (SBU) Press coverage has been extensive. Public interest
is informed by Guyana's history of post-election fires,
including unexplained blazes in several ministries, People's
Progressive Party (PPP) affiliated buildings, and
Indo-Guyanese owned properties after the 1992, 1997, and 2001
elections. The independent Stabroek News has lambasted the
Guyana Fire Service (GFS) for failing to gather forensic
evidence to explain the fires, and has called on Rohee to
bring in outside investigators if necessary.


5. (SBU) COMMENT: At present the suspicious blazes just
stoke the rumor mill. But if mysterious fires continue to
flare up, they could spark something more sinister--the
specter of the post-election violence, fear, and unrest
Guyanese thought they had finally banished. The fires are
also an early test of Minister Rohee's ability to improve the
lackluster performance of Home Affairs in its core mandate to
protect life and property.
Robinson