VZCZCXRO5040
RR RUEHGR
DE RUEHGE #0954 2631956
ZNR UUUUU ZZH
R 201956Z SEP 06
FM AMEMBASSY GEORGETOWN
TO RUEHC/SECSTATE WASHDC 4108
INFO RUCNCOM/EC CARICOM COLLECTIVE
RUEHCV/AMEMBASSY CARACAS 0406
RUEHLO/AMEMBASSY LONDON 0169
RUEHOT/AMEMBASSY OTTAWA 2197
RUMIAAA/HQ USSOUTHCOM J2 MIAMI FL
RUEHBS/USEU BRUSSELS
RUCNDT/USMISSION USUN NEW YORK 0109

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