Grade Eight students in a Milne Bay school will have to repeat their level next year, after a fire gutted their double-storey classroom and administration block last Monday.
The blaze has disrupted the Gibara Community School Grade Eight students’ final examinations, which were held last week.
According to Milne Bay Education authorities, the students didn’t sit for their papers.
There is suspicion that it may be the work of arsonists in the Gibara Community School blaze.
Apart from Gibara, Samarai Plastics lost its workshop and office last Friday.
The Gibara blaze was reported to have started in the early hours on Monday morning, at approximately 1am, while the Samarai Plastics blaze began at around 12.30pm.
The buildings, in both fires, were completely razed to the ground.
In the Samarai Plastics blaze, huge plumes of black smoke could be seen miles away.
According to an employee, the blaze, fanned by the wind, quickly spread as flammable substances caught fire.
The incident caught everyone off guard.
The Alotau Fire Brigade arrived minutes later but was unable to contain the fire.
The fire even spread to the adjoining Alotau Stevedoring Workshop, partly burning it.
The Samarai Plastics is the largest producer of fibreglass banana boats, supplied to Ela Motors. Thousands of kina worth of dinghies were destroyed that day.
Investigations have begun into the cause of both fires.
(Smouldering ruins of the Samarai Plastics building)