Tenth floor of Job 600 on fire

Fire has gutted the 10^th floor of the Job 600 building located at Parliament House in Accra.

Information gathered by Starrfmonline.com indicates that the entire floor has been gutted by the fire which is spreading to other floors.

It is not known what caused the fire but personnel from the Ghana National Fire Service (GNFS) are at the scene trying to douse the inferno.

The Job 600 building houses offices for the nation’s Parliamentarians.

Reports indicate personnel of the Fire Service does not have the equipment to fight fire beyond the fourth floor and with suggestions that the fire is on the 10th floor, they are struggling to bring the fire under control.

Some MPs who were upstairs working when the fire started at about 6:30 pm are reported to have all rushed downstairs to safety with their staff.

So far there is no report of any fatalities and there is no confirmation how many offices have been gutted by fire.

According to the reporter, one cannot find any sign of fire from the outside but the electricity in the whole building has gone off leaving the building pitch-black.

Background

Job 600 is a post-independence a government building in Accra which is just behind the Parliament House and was commissioned by Dr. Kwame Nkrumah, the first President of Ghana, in 1965.

In 2007 the John Kufuor administration secured a loan facility of a $25 million from the Social Security and National Insurance Trust (SSNIT) for the renovation of the structure.

Government stated that upon completion the new Job 600 would serve as an office complex to house the Members of the Ghanaian Parliament.

The cost of the project was initially estimated at $62.8 million. In 2011, the estimate for renovating the building was adjusted upwards by 39 million dollars. The increased cost was due to inflation.

On May 2012, months prior to completion, a fire broke out on the fifth floor of the building.

Witnesses reported that the fire started in the early hours of the morning. It took several minutes before firemen from the Ghana National Fire Service were able to bring it under control.

The build was officially inaugurated by John Dramani Mahama on November 2015