Establishment of forensic lab to assist NIC price fire risks nears completion

The National Insurance Commission (NIC) has presented a cheque for GH¢250,000 to the Ghana National Fire Service (GNFS) to enable it to complete the construction of a 3-storey forensic laboratory.

The laboratory unit when completed will assist the Service to use scientific methods to determine the origin and clear causes of fire incidents for public safety.

Dr. Justice Yaw Ofori, Commissioner of Insurance, who made the presentation during a tour of the project at the Headquarters of the Service said the GNFS needed additional support to expedite the completion of the project after the Service received a donation of GH¢300,000 from the Commission in July this year.

While the establishment of the forensic laboratory would assist the Fire Service in their fire investigative processes to establish the causes of fires within a reasonably short period, it would also help insurers price fire risks prudently, Dr. Ofori indicated.

The additional support given by the Fire Service is in line with the NIC’s projections to have the lab unit completed in time.

Fire insurance claims take a relatively long time to administer and that is because Fire Officers need to be able to tell the causes of fire outbreaks. The Commissioner of Insurance stated that the lab will naturally make life easier and faster for society as a whole.

He stressed the mutually beneficial relationship between the NIC and by extension the insurance industry and the GNFS will be further strengthened and enhanced once the laboratory is completed and put to use.

He also commended the insurance industry for their contributions towards the funding of this project which is the first of its kind since the establishment of the Service in 1963.

CFO Julius Kuunor, the Acting Chief Fire Officer (CFO), who received the cheque said used the opportunity to thank the Commission profusely for their consistent and relentless support: “With this additional support to complete certain other important phases of the laboratory, we believe that action on the effective use of scientific methods will be expedited in order to swiftly tell the causes fires which will otherwise be merely classified as accidental”.

The Ag. CFO believes that the Forensic Laboratory when completed will be a paradigm shift to ensure the scientific method of investigating incidents become the way to go.