Oko Vanderpuije appears before June 3 fire committee

The Accra Metropolitan Chief Executive, Alfred Oko Vanderpuije, has appeared before the committee investigating the June 3 fire outbreak which claimed more than 150 lives.

The five-member committee commenced a closed-door hearing, and is expected to complete its work by June 30.

Justice Isaac Douse, a retired Appeals Court Judge is chairing the committee with members drawn from the Ministry of Defence, the Ghana Police Service and the Ghana National Fire Service.

The Accra Mayor, Alfred Oko Vanderpuije, who was the first to appear before the committee, could not say much about the incident, explaining he has no information about how the fire occurred.

"As I sit here now, I do not know what caused the fire. Everything I have heard is based on hearsay and what people who say they were there saw. And as you have said, I do not want to give you anything that is based on hearsay. But what I know is that, over the years, we have not constructed the drains that we must construct. We have not de-silted the Odaw and the Korle Lagoon to allow massive flow of water into the ocean. And for that reason, we will always experience flooding in the Circle area" he noted.

Other officials including some from the National Disaster Management Organization, NADMO, are expected to appear before the committee.

Committee's investigators at work at the Goil Fuel Station site

The committee over the weekend visited the fire disaster site at the Kwame Nkrumah Circle Goil Filling Station.

It is also to assess the cost of damage and submit recommendations on how to prevent such incidents.

The committee is expected to submit its report to the Minister of the Interior on June 30, this year.