We cannot rule out arson on office fire but…GRA

The Ghana Revenue Authority (GRA) says although it does not rule out arson in the fire outbreak that razed its head office annex, it would be proper to wait for the investigations to be concluded to unravel the cause of the outbreak.

The Director-General of the Authority, Amishaddai Owusu-Amoah, at a press briefing, indicated that as an institution they do their best to put in place fire safety measures.

He said the commission constantly invites the fire service to train officials on fire safety measures.

He noted that the commission has smoke detectors at the head office but as to whether they functional at the time, would be determined by the fire service.

He also rubbished claims that the commission lost revenue in the course if the raze.

The commission he indicated that the fire caused considerable damage to the commission but they have not been able to quantify the full cost for the damages.

He said the second floor of the building was completely ravaged by the fire leading to considerable losses.

“GRA is till awaiting the report from the Ghana National Fire Service to determine the next line of action with regard to that building. I will, however, reiterate that the GRA has a backup system, so there will not be any loss of data of money.”

To ensure the smooth running of it’s operations, the GRA has redeployed offices and staff affected by the fire to other GRA offices to enable them work effectively and also make it convenient for taxpayers of the Large Taxpayer Office and Advanced Medium Taxpayer Office to transact business with the authority.

He described as unfortunate the fire the authority suffered since it came at a time when the authority was in the period of revenue mobilisation.

The Authority is however still focused and is still poised to working hard to attain the needed revenue for national development.

Meanwhile, he also revealed the authority is considering renting offices for their staff to work temporarily until a renovation on the affecting building is completed.

Source: Rashid Obodai Provencal||rainbowradioonline.com