Members of Parliament (MPs) have been left stranded without offices to work from as officers of the Ghana National Fire Service (GNFS) have shut down the Job 600 building as a result of a fire incident at the facility last Tuesday night.
The fire ravaged the 10th floor of the 12-floor edifice, which was commissioned in 2015.
The development has caused discomfort to parliamentarians, as many of them were stranded and wondering about as fire officers audited the 10th floor.
Although the cause of the fire has not been established, some sources within the Fire Service believed it would have been as a result of an electrical fault.
One of the affected MPs, James Klutse Avedzi, told journalists that the incident has affected the work of the House as the MPs were scattered around.
The Ketu North MP was hopeful the situation would be cleared “so it does not delay their work further.”
He said the MPs either had to sit in the chamber, hang around the lobby or the new office complex to wait for parliamentary proceedings to start.
According to him, it would be an eye-opening experience to new MPs who were lucky to have offices to work from, upon joining the House.
He said for some of them who hang to work outside their offices before Job 600 was completed and commissioned, they are used to the situation albeit discomforting.
“For now we do not have the official statement too from the Fire Service so we have to wait for them to finish their work. It is good that we know the cause of the fire so when the building is opened, members will be more careful,” he said.
He confirmed that currently there was no electricity supply in the building since it was put off last Tuesday evening during the fire.
“This is because if the fire is caused by an electric spark, supplying power to the building can cause the same problem,” he said, urging MPs to give them time to do a thorough job for their own safety.
Meanwhile, the Head of Public Affairs at Parliament, Kate Addo, has said the extent of the damage was minimal.
She explained that a photocopier in an adjoining room developed a fault and started the fire.
“The firemen were able to isolate the fire and deal with it in that space. So the main office and other offices were not affected. The rest of the floor was also safe from the fire,” she said.
According to her, although there was an arrangement with the contractors to be on hand to fix problems with the building after the handing over, that did not include things like fire.
She was, however, hopeful they will be available to deal with the matter.
Mrs. Addo was also hopeful personnel from the Fire Service would finish by close of day yesterday, so they can access the building.
“Billy Anaglatey, PRO of the Fire Service, indicated that the fire tenders, extinguisher and alarm systems were all in good shape and we should not be overly alarmed.
“We take it that what is happening now is only precautionary,” she explained.
Join GhanaStar.com to receive daily email alerts of breaking news in Ghana. GhanaStar.com is your source for all Ghana News. Get the latest Ghana news, breaking news, sports, politics, entertainment and more about Ghana, Africa and beyond.
