Tragedy struck at Masjid Bilal Boarding School in Yundum where according to the authorities, five children were killed in a fire outbreak on Sunday. Seven other children suffered injuries. 

This is unacceptable. The boarding school must be considered a crime scene. I hope the authorities have already visited the scene to investigate the cause of the tragedy and take corrective measures to prevent a recurrence. 

They should check if the boarding school is equipped with basic lifesaving tools like fire extinguishers, smoke detectors, fire escapes, CPR kit as well as whether the place was overcrowded or whether the children were properly supervised.

Let us stop blaming Allah for not doing what we supposed to do to save lives. The school should be ban and authorities of the school must be held to account if they are found to have recklessly put the lives of the children at risk. 

Quranic memorialization schools should not be exempted from meeting safety regulatory standards. 

In fact, they should be subjected to meeting rigid standards that will ensure that the welfare of the children under their care is not compromised: that is to say they must feed them well, accommodate them in a clean, healthy, secure and safe environment. 

The authorities must send inspectors to other Quranic memorization schools to ensure that they meet safety standards. 

Those found wanting should be cited, fined and asked to correct their violations. The ones with the serious violation must be immediately shut down. 

It is the duty of the government to protect and save lives. With a disaster of this magnitude,  both the minister of interior and education should  visit the scene of the fire outbreak to commit that no stone will be left unturned in the investigations and that they will ensure safety measures are implemented to prevent the reoccurrence of such a tragedy. 

Gambia, we must value lives. We cannot normalized or accept our people dying due to our own recklessness or lack of action and yet blame it on the will of Allah.

By Lamin Jatta