From Paul Osuyi, Asaba
The Nigeria Building and Road Research Institute (NBRRI) has dispatched a team of experts to Asaba, Delta State, to unravel the remote and immediate causes of a collapsed section of a seven-storey building under construction.
Although there were no casualties when the structure, believed to be a hotel, collapsed, there has been public outcry against the siting of the gigantic building located at the Ekumeku flyover in the heart of the state capital.
Already, the six-man investigative team from NBRRI led by Akaolisa Ezeagu, had consultations with the building approving authority, the state Ministry of Urban Renewal, as well as with the building supervising agency, the state Ministry of Housing.
Addressing journalists in Asaba on Friday, 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 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.