Ministry institutes 10-member committee to investigate fire outbreak at Lands Commission

The Ministry of Lands and Natural Resources (MLNR) in consultation with the Lands Commission has instituted a 10-Member Committee to investigate the cause of the fire which gutted the premises of the Lands Commission at Cantonments in Accra.

The Committee is to make recommendation for appropriate action in order to ensure the safety and security of property and documents at the Commission.

A statement issued in Accra on Monday by Mr Mike Hammah, Minister of Lands and Natural Resources said the Committee to be inaugurated on Thursday, March 8 had two weeks to submit its report.

It would assess the extent of damage done, assess effect of the damage on the operations of the Commission and recommend interim measures to ensure continuity of operations, and propose measures for retrieval of lost information for re-documentation.

Other terms of reference are, evaluate the current state of the records at the Commission including security of storage and environmental setting and condition in which the records are kept, make recommendations for the prevention of future fire outbreaks and any other matter which in the opinion of the committee can be considered in order to prevent fire outbreaks at the Commission.

The statement said the Committee to be chaired by a Justice of the High Court, include Nana Kodua Kesse II, Dr Wilfred Anim- Odame, and representatives of MLNR, Ghana National Fire Service, Ghana Army, Ghana Police Service, Public Records and Archives Administration Department (PRAAD), National Security, and Mrs Thelma Ohene-Asiamah as Secretary.

On Thursday, March 1, the Lands Commission was gutted by fire which affected sections of the Public and Vested Lands Management Division, Survey and Mapping Division.

Source: GNA