A six-man team of building experts has commenced investigation into the remote and immediate cause of a collapsed section of a seven-storey building under construction in Asaba, Delta State.
The team from the Nigeria Building and Road Research Institute (NBRRI) led by Akaolisa Ezeagu, had met with officials from the state Ministry of Urban Renewal, as well as the state Ministry of Housing.
Other members of the team as approved by the Director General of NBRRI, Prof. Samson Dunia, include; Kingsley Oghoro, Ikenna Onuorah, Chidiebere Afamefuna, Okolo Leonard (South-East zonal coordinator of NBRRI) and Wan Igwe Daniel.
Meanwhile, no death was recorded when the structure, believed to be a hotel, caved in on September 14, 2023. However, residents have continued to question the rationale behind the siting of the gigantic building located at the Inter Bau flyover, the heart of the state capital.
Speaking to newsmen in Asaba on Friday, leader of the team, Mr. Ezeagu, said though preliminary investigation has been done, the team was yet to get approval for a full scale investigation.
“We have done a scientific prima facie assessment of the collapsed section of the building and equally had a prima facie survey of the whole structure.
“We thank the state government for the preliminary access to the team, and urged them to grant us full access to the site to run a full scale investigation.
“We believe that our expert reviews and findings as a research institute with the core mandate of research carried out on critical infrastructure, in this case, the hospitality industry, will help government, the client and all agencies to forestall future occurrences not only on this but in other subsequent projects,” he said.
According to him, the team applied to the ministry for access to the building, approval was being delayed apparently for civil service bureaucracy.
“Now, we want to go into full scale investigation, which must be documented. We have applied and waiting for approval. We learnt that the commissioner is out of the state for official assignment. Hopefully by next week, we will get the documented approval,” Ezeagu stated.
NBRRI, a Federal Government research based agency, is under the Ministry of Science, Technology and Innovation. It was established in 1977 by an Act which was amended the following year.
Its core mandate is to carry out comprehensive and forensic investigation on critical infrastructure that suffered collapse.
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