By Mustapha Jallow
The Spokesperson of the National Water and Electricity Company (NAWEC), on Friday August 31st clarified that their institution was not part of those tasked to investigate the fire incident at the Ministry of Fisheries.
Pierre Sylva told Foroyaa that he was not aware of their institution’s selection as part of a task force that was to probe the fire incident that happened at the Fisheries Ministry on 2nd December 2019.
“As the PRO, I do not and cannot explain things that I do not know and this information has never been given to me as an official information from NAWEC,” he said. However, Pierre Sylva was quick to verify from his superior and NAWEC MD on telephone, and confirmed that NAWEC was not part of the task force mandated to investigate the fire outbreak at the Fisheries Ministry.
Sylva referred this reporter to the Office of the President and Fisheries Ministry, as the officials responsible for setting up the task force.
For the information of the readership, Pateh Gibba, Spokesperson of the Gambia Fire and Rescue Service (GFRS) said in an earlier interview that investigations into this particular fire incident involves the Gambia Police Force (GPF), National Intelligence Agency (NIA), NAWEC and others; that each institution was tasked to do their own investigation. He said even though the cause of the fire incident at the Ministry of Fisheries is still unknown, there are doubts regarding how the incident started from the toilets.
“It is our considered opinion to conclude that the cause of the fire for now is ‘Unknown,’’ Gibba said on 26th August.
A senior agent of the NIA confirmed that their institution is involved in the investigation of the fire outbreak at the Fisheries Ministry, despite the vain efforts to contact the Director General of the NIA by this reporter for comments on the matter.
If readers can recall, a devastating fire outbreak consumed confidential files and other valuables including laptops and desktop computers, at the Ministry of Fisheries on 2nd December 2019.
