_________________________________________________________
It is not anymore news that an uncompleted 2-storey building situated along Egbu Road Owerri - the Imo State Capital - collapsed from the foundation level on Sunday August 13, 2017, at about 3am, claiming four souls and leaving scores severely injured.
The Rostrum Emergency crew that was present at the scene of the incident gathered that the affected structure was uncompleted, yet people were resident in it. It suffices to say that all the victims of the untold event were all resident of the building.
This is happening barely few weeks after almost four buildings reportedly collapsed in different localities in Owerri. It would be recalled that the areas in question were respectively Umuguma, Obinze and Oforola, all in Owerri West L.G.A as well as Ulakwo in Owerri North L.G.A.
While reacting to the question thrown to her by the Rostrum crew, the General Manager (GM) of the Owerri Capital Development Authority (OCDA) Dr. Mrs. Chika Nnajiofor who was flanked by the Authority's management, disclosed that approval was never sought by the developer handling the project, as she further unequivocally stated her administration's readiness to fish out the bad eggs among the land developers within the "15 kilometres radius" of the Capital Territory.
Dr. Nnajiofor who assumed duty barely two months ago, and happened to be the first female GM of the Authority, frowned over the situation whereby prospective landlords would prefer to hire quacks to carry out a certain building project, to engaging qualified professionals; hence, said that the OCDA under her watch was prepared to partner with all the various concerned professional bodies domiciled in the state.
All efforts put together to speak with the owner of the affected property proved abortive, as reports indicated that he was "nowhere to be found". Rostrum equally learnt that the contractor was "on the run".
As at the time of filing this report, all the necessary authorities such as the Police, the OCDA, the Red Cross Emergency team, and the government officials, among others, had visited the scene of the unfortunate incident.
It's noteworthy that the state government led by Governor Rochas Okorocha who visited the arena to see things for himself, had ordered immediate demolition of a close-by 2-storey building that is likely to share similar fate with the collapsed one in no distant time towards averting further crisis in future.
L-R: Dr. Nnajiofor and H.O.D, Town Planning
Meanwhile, further investigations carried out by the Rostrum Engineering team disclosed the following intriguing four (4) facts:
1. No approval was issued to the developer by the state's body responsible for Development Control (OCDA).
2. The collapsed building had already been marked for demolition by the OCDA.
3. The building was a mere bungalow converted to a two-storey building.
4. Substandard building materials were deployed in the process by the contractor.
Scripted by: Rostrum
For enquiries, or advert placement, call our hotline: +2348028608056
No comments:
Post a Comment