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The Chief Executive Officer of the Ghana Insurers Association, Mr Atsu Menyawovor, has urged the government, as a matter of urgency, to insure all state assets to save taxpayers' money. He said government assets belonged to the general public so any loss brought about by lost property affects everyone. He added that although the insurance industry had made several appeals to the government to insure its assets, �it is only when disasters happen that the issue is hyped.� Speaking in an interview with the Daily Graphic, Mr Menyawovor said although the government had valuable assets, most of them were not insured. Benefit Enumerating the benefits of insuring such assets, he said the government had to pay for the reacquisition of assets lost in disasters, though there were experts or professionals who evaluated the property before underwriting and they could also advise on the prevention of disasters. �Insurance companies have professionals who survey the assets before underwriting and they can tell the possible risk. They will advise on good housekeeping measures to prevent losses,� he said. Apart from helping to prevent losses, he said the insurance of state property could also boost the local insurance industry in terms of premium contributions and the economy as a whole. �The government will be paying with one hand and taking it back with another as it will lead to the generation of employment and payment of taxes,� he added. Readiness Mr Menyawovor stated that the players in the insurance industry were ready to put their services at the disposal of the committee which the Ministry of Health intended to set up to look into the prevention of the fire outbreak at the Medical Stores in Tema. On whether state assets should be insured by the State Insurance Company alone, he said that would be beyond the financial capacity of the company currently, even though it had the technical capacity to do so. �Look at the money involved in the recent incident. If only one company was handling it, it will collapse easily,� he said. He also said both the private and state-owned insurance companies and re-insurances were ready to mobilise their financial capacities to adequately protect the assets of the government.