Grenville, St. Andrew’s, June 28, 2010 - Minister of Finance, Hon. Nazim Burke, Minister of Social Services, Hon. Sylvester Quarless and other government officials as well as Opposition Leader, Hon. Dr. Keith Mitchell, Opposition MP, Hon. Roland Bhola and Mrs. Delma Thomas made visits to the charred site of the Grenville Vendors’ Mall today to access the degree of devastation caused by last night’s fire. Firemen at the Grenville Police Siltation were called upon last evening to put out a fire which started inside of the Vendors’ Mall. The firemen had to fight hard to try and contain the fire as much as possible because it threatened to spread to other important neighboring buildings: The Grenville Revenue Office,the Grenville Public Library, Paris Pharmacy and Shalimar's building. The Paris Pharmacy is believed to have lost one of its A/C Units while the Revenue Office and the Public Library received a fair amount of damage to the their physical structure and some of their contents. Most of the reference books in the library were destroyed, the roof of the Revenue Office was damaged and some of the parcels were soaked by the water used to put out the fire. It is believed that a few firemen would have received minimal injuries during their battle to put out the raging flames. About 25 of the 35 vendors that occupied the cubicles inside the mall suffered significant losses. The entire contents went up in smoke and their wooden buildings were completely gutted to the ground, leaving a pile of twisted galvanize and charred wood behind. Fortunately, there has been no loss of life as a result of this unfortunate incident. Many of these vendors had just stocked up their boots with items in preparation for the upcoming Rainbow City Festival and other activities that are known to take place around this time of the year. Additionally, many would have incurred heavy debts in getting their businesses up and running. Few, if any, took out insurance on their stock of goods, which further exacerbates their plight. Hon. Nazim Burke expressed deep regret over what would have happened to the vendors whom he said were trying to make a livelihood for themselves at a time when unemployment is high and times are hard. He said that government will try and do all it can at this time to assist the vendors. Hon. Sylvester Quarless informed the media that a meeting will be held with the vendors tomorrow to determine the way forward. Today, the area leading to the vendors’ mall was sealed off by police and officers were stationed at the site ostensible for two main reasons: to maintain security as the necessary investigations were carried out and also to offer protection in cases where the walls of the Revenue Office and library were compromised. The Grenville Revenue Office will now be temporarily housed upstairs the Ministry of Agriculture building on Seaton Brown Street until the necessary work is done on the damaged building. By Wallace AJ Inside Grenada News