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From Okey Sampson, Umuahia
The Abia State government is set to establishment a Standard Material Testing Laboratory in Umuahia, the state capital to guide against building collapse in the state.
Disclosing this in Umuahia, the Commissioner for Information and Culture, Okey Kanu said the decision to build the laboratory was informed by the instances of buildings collapse in the country.
“We know the attendant human and material resources loss when a building collapses, so this government is poised to ensure that such instances do not occur in our state.”
Assuring that the facility would serve as a platform for research, the Commissioner added, “We want buildings to serve the purpose for which they were built, UCDA has been interfacing with landlords to see that this does not continue,” he stated.
Kanu expressed the government’s resolve to stop all forms of touting, popularly known as “Agbero”, adding that a task force had been set up to tackle the menace.
The General Manager of Umuahia Capital Development Authority (UCDA,) Kingsley Agomoh, said the laboratory was one of the government’s proactive measures towards guiding against the use of low-grade building materials, to prevent cases of building collapse.
“The initiative would assist the government in ensuring that every building, road and bridges constructed in the state meets the required standards.
“So, with this it is going to be difficult to start any construction work and get approval at each stage of the building without getting the materials tested through this laboratory.
“We are going to build the first in Umuahia, then other parts of the state like Aba, Ohafia will have their own as time goes on.”
Agomoh further said that the government was working assiduously to ensure that building permit would be issued within 30 days of submission of the documents.
