SPARK AND SMOKE INCIDENT AT THE MINISTRY OF FINANCE AND NATIONAL PLANNING
The Ministry of Finance and National Planning wishes to inform the public that between 13:20 Hrs and 13:35 Hrs, today, an electrical spark and smoke event was observed in a room where the power distribution box (MCB) for the old wing, is located. The Ministry has three distinct buildings, called wings.
New, middle and old wings.
According to observation by our maintenance staff, the electrical sparks may have been induced by rain-water coming in contact with electrical wires in the power distribution box, after seeping through the elevator machine room located on top of the old wing building.
Following the above observation, our immediate action was to switch-off the power supply to the entire premises, from our main power distribution facility (MCB) located within the Ministry, while simultaneously evacuating staff and reporting the incident to the Lusaka City Council (LCC) Fire Brigade and Zesco. They both came and made their investigations. Power has since been restored to a substantial number of offices and installations at the Ministry.
At the moment, we are unable to determine the cost of the damage caused by the incident, however, we wish to assure the public that other than the power distribution room in the old wing, no other facility or room in the Ministry was affected by the incident.
The matter has also been reported to the Zambia Police Service for further investigations.
Issued by:
MINISTRY OF FINANCE AND NATIONAL PLANNING
2nd March, 2023
