By S. Siapha Mulbah and Laurina Lormia
During the early morning hours of January 8, 2024, employees of the Ministry of Transport were greeted at work with a thick smoke that covered the facility when fire gutted the building.
The building was temporarily seized by the fire that came from the basement of the building, as early as 5:00am, and made its way to the ground, first, and second floors, and to major offices, from the bottom to the top, causing a shutdown of all offices at the government entity.
With mixed views surrounding the cause of the fire incident, authorities of the Ministry remain tight-lipped as to the actual cause of the fire.
But according to sources close to the Ministry, the fire may have been caused by electric fault from the basement of the building.
“The areas mainly affected do not contain major offices and record centers that could have undermined the accountability,” a gentleman, who identified himself as an expeditor, said.
Other bystanders on the scene were heard murmuring that the fire could have been intentionally staged as a result of covering up from within to have certain records damaged, while others opined that the fire could also be caused by electrical faults and other unintentional factors.
With these diverse views concerning the outbreak, the only authority that bears the responsibility to investigate and disclose the actual cause of the fire at the Ministry is the Liberia National Fire and Rescue Service.
The Director for Public Affairs at the Ministry of Transport, Lemuel Kleeme, explained that the fire started from the basement of the Ministry, which is not actively in use by the entity because there is no office located in that part of the building.
He explained that there was no electric power in the Ministry, noting, “Immediately the smoke started coming out of the Ministry, the security, in no time, put down the breaker that is responsible for both the LEC and the generator; if current was in the Ministry, by now it would have intensified.”
Kleeme extended words of gratitude to the Liberia National Fire Service (LNFS) that swiftly responded to the incident and put the situation under control.
He added that the Fire Service is investigating the cause of the fire incident and will cooperate with the transport authorities to have the public informed on the outcomes.
The Ministry of Transport Public Affairs Director confirmed that the fire that started from the basement did not cause much damage to offices on the top floor, but few offices on the ground floor, including the center used by the Ministry for service delivery and dispatching purposes, were affected.
“There is no need to panic and politicize the incident here at the Ministry of Transport. If this fire situation was stage-managed and intentional, the building could have been in total flames that could lead to major damage of the entire structure,” he said.
Kleeme added, “Setting fire to destroy whatever evidence as speculated in the public could have targeted the offices of the Minister, his deputies, or Assistant Minister and even the controller and other record centers, but these offices are still intact.”
Kleeme asserted that the situation is a disaster for Liberia’s revenue generation sector, because it impedes other government functionaries, of which the Ministry of Transport is a major entity that collects revenue for the government.
He informed the Inquirer that this week, the Ministry will do a thorough investigation of the incident to determine the actual cause of the fire outbreak at the Ministry.
“During the course of the week, we will inspect the incident scene and do a thorough investigation to determine the cause of the fire. This means that our normal working activities at the entity will face some level of hindrance,” he said.
Kleeme noted, “We are looking up to and working with the national fire fighters who came to make sure that the fire got under control, and they have done just that. The Fire Service has told us at the Ministry of Transport that a team has already been setup to launch an investigation into this situation and will communicate with us on the outcome.”
