Heavy security presence at GRA Ring Road Central offices
There was heavy security presence at the fire ravaged Ghana Revenue Authority (GRA) offices at the Ring Road Central, headquarters annex, in Accra, yesterday.
When the Ghanaian Times visited the area, the premises had been cordoned off, to ensure evidence was not tempered with.
Personnel from the Ghana Police Service, Ghana National Fire Service (GFS), and Customs Division of the GRA, were positioned at vantage points of the premises.
The Ghanaian Times reported in its Monday, December 2, 2019, issue that fire yesterday gutted the GRA offices at the Ring Road Central in Accra, destroying office equipment and other valuable items.
The fire, believed to have started from the second floor of the two-storey building hosting the offices, destroyed documents, computers, laptops, air-conditioners and photo copier machines.
The fire was brought under control after six-hours of fire fighting by a combined team of the GNFS and the Ghana Air Force, using 10 fire tenders.
When the Ghanaian Times visited the scene, the fire fighters were busily dousing the fire, while police from the Greater Accra Command condoned off the place to maintain law and order.
Also spotted were personnel from the National Disaster Management Organisation and the Ghana Red Cross Society, who were there to offer a helping hand.
The top officials of the GRA, including the acting Commissioner-General of the GRA, Mr Ammishaddai Owusu-Amoah, and the Board Chairman of the GRA, Professor Stephen Adei, were also at the scene.
The incident resulted in huge traffic at the stretch of the road, whilst a large crowd gathered to catch a glimpse of the fire.
Some eye witnesses told the Ghanaian Times that they saw thick black smoke coming from the building around 7:00 am followed by the fire.
The Head of Public Relations of the GNFS, Divisional Officer Grade II, Ellis Okoe Robinson, told the Ghanaian Times that his outfit received a distress call about the fire outbreak at about 8:31a.m, and personnel proceeded to the scene at about 8:34a.m.
He said personnel of the GNFS had challenges with accessibility to the building, and the water hydrant at the area had low pressure.
The head of GNFS PR said that investigations into the fire outbreak was ongoing.
BY ANITA NYARKO-YIRENKYI
