As people will remember, a noted AFC/PNC politician runs a flower business. Is he eliminating the competition?
Nesha’s Flower Shop gutted by fire
It will be a gloomy Christmas for one city businesswoman, whose business went up in flames right before her eyes as she watched firemen fighting the blaze, yesterday afternoon.
At around 17:13 hours, the Guyana Fire Service responded to a call at Lot 78 Church and Carmichael Streets, Cummingsburg, where Nesha’s Flower Land is located. By the time the Fire Service responded, the entire building was filled with smoke while flames were seen at the rear.
As fire fighters were battling with the blaze, the owner and relatives turned up at the scene and were in disbelief. One man was seen running into the smoke clogged building and had to be restrained by fire fighters. A crew from the Guyana Power and Light Company was seen cutting off power supply to the area as several other business offices were in close proximity to the burning building.Fire Chief Marlon Gentle, who was at the scene, said that after receiving the call, three units were dispatched, two from Central and one from Alberttown. Gentle said when the units arrived the entire building was clogged with smoke.
“Very little flames were visible but there was smoke all over and what we noticed was that the fire originated from the rear of the building and it would appear that’s where the fire started, there was a lot of combustible materials,” Gentle said.
However, Gentle said his ranks were fully protected with breathing apparatus as they were forced to enter the building to get to the source of the fire.
“The back of the building was brunt but there was mostly smoke damages and water damages.”
However the Fire Chief said it would be too premature to comment of what may have started the fire.
Owner of the business Nesha Deonauth said she was at home when she received a telephone call that her business, which she had been operating for the past 17 years, was on fire.The woman said she raced down to the scene but she was unable to save anything as the entire building was smoke filled. She said that she cannot estimate her losses. According to Ms. Deonauth, she lost over $10M in art work, including sculptures, some of which she was scheduled to exhibit soon. The flower shop owner also lamented that she had recently imported a large quantity of material for the Christmas holidays, since she had already received numerous orders for the festive season.
Meanwhile, Priest of the St. George’s Cathedral Terry Davis told this publication that the building is owned by the Diocese of Guyana but was rented to the owners of the flower shop. Davis said the building is more than 50 years old and there had been two attempts to torch the building as far as he can recall.