…As Rescue Team continues search for possible victims
Okey Maduforo, Awka
Twenty-four hours after a three-storey building collapsed in Awka, the Anambra State capital, the Nigerian Institute of Building (NIOB) has called for the implementation of the findings and recommendations of the Anambra State Panel on Building Collapse.
Meanwhile, officials of the Awka Capital Territory Development Authority (ACTDA) are still at the site of the collapsed building, searching for possible victims trapped in the rubble.
According to the CEO/MD of Awka Capital Territory Development Authority (ACTDA), Ozo Ossy Onuko, “Our staff will remain there until we are convinced that there is no one trapped in there.”
“We thank God that so far, we have not recorded any deaths or major casualties at the site, but we are on the ground to ensure safety,” he said.
Recall that the state government had set up a panel of inquiry on building collapses in the state following incidents that occurred at Dennis Memorial Grammar School (DMGS) and Ochanja Market in Onitsha, the commercial city, last year.
According to the Anambra State Chairman of NIOB, Bldr. Nweke Kingsley:
“A panel of inquiry was set up last year over the DMGS building collapse and the one that happened at Ochanja Market in Onitsha.”
“The panel of inquiry has submitted its reports, findings, and recommendations, and we expect the state government to look at them and produce a white paper as a working document to avert such ugly incidents in the future.”
“The implementation would have saved us from this embarrassing situation today. We also have a National Building Code that ensures and insists on professionalism, which means using the right professionals at the site. Other states have been observing it, while Anambra is yet to do so.”
“We have always talked about synergy among professionals at building sites. The monopoly of one profession at the site cannot work, and the government needs to enforce that code and ensure due diligence and compliance with the laws guiding building construction,” he said.
Also speaking, the Anambra State Chairman of Builders in Private Practice, Bldr. John Bosco Amamfa, noted the dangers of using quacks in the building sector. He stated that with such individuals at construction sites, buildings would continue to collapse.
“We are just looking at this from the outside, and we have tested the concrete mixture as well as the foundation of this collapsed building. We see defects that cannot carry the weight of a three-storey building.”
“Though these are preliminary investigations, one thing we suspect is that the contractor is a quack and had no business being at the site. For now, we are still conducting further investigations on this sad development.”
“People should stop going for cheap labor. In the process of saving money, you lose a lot more. As you can see, the owner of this building has lost a lot of money and will spend even more clearing the rubble and starting all over again,” he said.
