By Okey Maduforo Awka.
Twenty four hours after a three Storey Building collapsed in Awka Anambra state capital the Nigerian Institute Of Buildings NIOB has called for the implementation of the findings and recommendations of the Anambra state Panel on building collapse.
Meanwhile the officials of the Awka Capital Territory Development Authority ACTDA are still at the site of the collapse building in search of possible victims trapped in the rubble.
According to the CEO / MD Awka Capital Territory Development Authority ACTDA Ozo Ossy Onuko “our staff would remain there until we are convinced that there is no one trapped in there”
“We thank God that so far elwe have not recorded any death or major casualties at the site but we are on ground to ensure safety” he said.
Recall that the state government had set up a panel of enquiry on the building collapse in the state following the incidents that occurred at the Dennis Memorial Grammer School DMGS and the Ochanja market in Onitsha commercial city last year.
According to the Anambra state Chairman of NIOB Bldr. Nweke Kingsley;
“A panel of enquiry was set up last year over the DMGS building collapse and the one that happened at the Ochanja market in Onitsha”
“The panel of enquiry has submitted it’s reports , findings and recommendations and we expect the state government to look at them and produce a white paper on that as a working document to avert such ugly incidents in future”
“The implementation would have saved us from this embarrassing situation here today and we also have a National Building Code that ensures and insists on professionalism which means using the right professionals at the site and other states have been observing it while Anambra is yet to do so ”
“We have always talked about synergy among professionals at the building sites and the monopoly of one profession at the site cannot work and government needs to enforce that code and also ensure due diligence and compliance to that laws guiding building construction ” he said.
Also speaking the Anambra state Chairman Builders In Private Practice bldr. John Bosco Amamfa noted that the use of quacks in the building sector noting that with such people at the site 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 at we see defects that cannot carry the weight of a three Storey Building”
“Though these are preliminary investigations but one thing we suspect is that the contractor is a quack and had no business being at the site and for now we are still making further investigations on this sad development”
“People should stop going for cheap labor because in the process of saving money you lose a lot of funds as you can see that the owner of this building has lost a lot of money and he is going to spend more clearing the rubble and starting all over again ” he said.
