The Passport Office in Accra has been temporarily shut down after a fault was detected with the lighting system.
The shutdown is a stop-gap measure to allow work to be undertaken on the facility, a Deputy Minister of Foreign Affairs and Regional Integration told TV3.
Speaking on News 360 on Tuesday, Mohammad Habibu Tijani said workers at the Office detected smoke coming out of one of the rooms.
“Everything went off,” he said, “as [electricians] were able to shut down the machines.”
Officers from the Ghana National Fire Service (GNFS) were later called in to assess the situation, the deputy minister stated.
He assured that by Friday, the Office will be opened.
‘Unfortunate’
Alhaji Tijani described as unfortunate why word did not go round about the current situation. He blamed it on initial efforts by officials to frantically solve the issue.
He said his boss, Shirley Ayorkor Botchwey, was out of the country and so was he.
“[But] the Passport Director was working around the clock.”
He said the situation has rekindled the need to get more equipment for the Office.
Decentralisation of its functions has also been penciled down for strengthening, 3news.com gleaned from the interview.
As a result, he announced that a passport acquisition office in Tema will soon be opened.
By Emmanuel Kwame Amoh|3news.com|Ghana