The official cause of the fire that destroyed the second floor of the Water and Sewerage Authority’s (WASA) main building at its St Joseph administrative complex is yet to be determined.
Yesterday, fire officials began investigative work at the site while workers were ordered to stay home until further notice.
But while the official cause of the fire has not yet been found, workers on the compound yesterday said they strongly suspect it may have something to do with important documents relating to contracts, minutes of board meetings and other development projects which were kept in “Blue Files” on that particular floor and a coming audit.
The T&T Guardian spoke to a senior WASA official on the condition of anonymity who said contrary to an initial claim, he was not sure the authority had backup files.
WASA’s communications manager Daniel Plenty said on Tuesday they did have backup files as he sought to dispel speculation the fire was related to records kept on the second floor and the impending audit. He said not all of the authority’s records were kept at St Joseph.
But yesterday, the WASA source, recalling the scene when the fire broke out, said: “WASA’s alarm is always going off. We always have bomb scares here.
“When the alarm went off Tuesday evening, a few of the workers who were still in the building did not take it on. People expected a false alarm and never thought a real fire could have broken out. This is the first time this ever happened at WASA.”
Public Services Association president Watson Duke, meanwhile, yesterday dismissed suggestions WASA employees could have had a hand in the fire.
“I will not think that people will do that here,” he said at a press conference. He admitted that the blaze took place on the eastern side of the building, which housed “a whole range of offices ... (including) the CEO’s office, the Information Systems, the purchasing and supply (office), so it is a very important area.”
On Tuesday, Plenty said in his 25 years at the company he had never experienced something like that. He said his own office, the Communications Department, was also housed on the second floor and the fire would also affect operations in other departments but could not say to what extent.
Plenty assured that dislocated staff would be relocated and said no one would lose their jobs. While some seven fire tenders sought to extinguish the blaze with high-powered water hoses, workers stood around the building quietly watching on Tuesday. One female employee said she was in shock.
Outside, on Farm Road, residents gathered on the sidewalk also sadly watching the building burn. “This is a landmark,” a woman said. A group of women felt “politics” was behind the fire.