From Clarice Azuatalam, Port Harcourt
Rivers State Governor Sir Siminalayi Fubara, has ordered a complete sealing off of the site of a five- storey building which collapsed on Wednesday on Peter Odili Road, Port Harcourt, killing one person and injuring several others.
Fubara, who visited the site of the disaster yesterday to assess the situation, said the site will remain “completely sealed off” until the government gets to the “root cause” of the incident.
The governor described the incident as unfortunate but observed that preliminary investigation had shown that the developer had earlier refused to subject his site to inspection by the state authorities and comply with the necessary building regulations.
The governor, who inspected the site alongside the Commissioner for Physical Planning and Urban Development, Sir Amairigha Edward Hart, and the Permanent Secretary of the Ministry of Special Duties, Dabite Sokari George, explained that he could not visit the site the previous day because he was awaiting formal briefing from the relevant agencies of government on the situation.
”We’re here to see for ourselves the very unfortunate incident that took place here. I didn’t come yesterday because I wanted to get the report first, and the Commissioner did brief me that the incident site, first, is not as claimed by the developer, that it’s not under the jurisdiction of the state; that it’s under the jurisdiction of the Federal Housing Authority.
”He also informed me that when the project was ongoing, they came here severally to inspect what was happening and also to see the level of compliance. But unfortunately, the developer kept claiming that we don’t have any right to interfere,” he said.
Fubara said that the issue was no longer about interference but about the life lost to the building collapse and the collateral damage brought upon the family of the deceased.
He extended condolences to the families of the victims, insisting that the incident could have been avoided if the developer had complied with the rules guiding the engineering design and construction of such a structure in the 21st century.
”We feel very sorry and very regretful that such an incident should be happening in this 21st century because technology has advanced, engineering has developed. I wonder what kind of engineer would even allow this kind of project to go on when everything about it from inception has been faulty.
”I think that at this point,nothing is going to happen on this site anymore. We are going to make sure that this place is completely sealed off until we get to the root cause of this incident,” the governor stated.