Accra, Dec. 14, GNA - Vice President John Mahama on behalf of government received the report of the Committee of Enquiry into the fire outbreak at the Ministry of Foreign Affairs and Regional Integration on October 21.

Mr. Kweku Twum Boafo of Twum Boafo and Associates led the seven-member committee to enquire into the cause of the fire outbreak, and assess the responsiveness of the Ghana National Fire Service (GNFS) to the disaster. Their term of reference include assessment of fire equipment at the ministry, enquire into the extent of damage caused by the fire, assess the loss of valuable documents and equipment.

They also enquired whether there were adequate back-up systems for the storage of important documents and looked into any other matter incidental to or connected with the disaster.

Mr Mahama said the disaster should strengthen the maintenance culture in the country to protect life and property.

He said government would exhaust all the recommendations of the committee and vigorously pursue its contents, while applying modern techniques to raise government buildings to international standards. The Vice President said government was taking steps to equip the GNFS with modern fire fighting logistics especially for high rise buildings. He commended the committee for the report and the commitment of the Chinese government to help build a State of the Art building for the Ministry.