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From Magnus Eze, Enugu
The Council for Regulation of Engineering in Nigeria (COREN) and the Nigerian Society of Engineers (NSE) have given a clean bill of health to an Enugu hospitality facility, Bon Platinum.
The hotel’s one-storey conference building had been suspected of a structural defect, leading to the government shutting down the facility. This followed an alleged bang, suspected to be a crack from the pillars of the building, raising panic during the issuance of a certificate of return by the Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC), to the then Governor-elect of Enugu State, Mr. Peter Mbah, in March this year.
The two engineering bodies conducted integrity tests on the building to certify whether the alleged bang had caused a structural defect in the hall, while it was sealed by the Enugu Capital Territory Development Authority (ECTDA). After the integrity tests, COREN and NSE certified the edifice as fit for use.
The NSE Prevention, Investigation, and Failure Analysis Committee (PIFAC) conducted its initial visit to the site on April 27, 2023. A technical report on the structural integrity which was obtained by Sunday Sun indicated that no visible cracks were seen both inside and outside the building.
“There were no cracks on columns on both the ground and upper floors. There were also no visible deflections or buckling of the columns. There was also no tilting of any part of the building due to differential settlements or vibrations,” the report said.
The PIFAC headed by Dr. Victor Chiwuzie stated that more detailed investigation was carried out on May 9, to open up the POP and observe the behaviour of the beams and slabs. It further stated that after analyzing their observations and results of the investigations, the committee “recommends as follows: There are no technical reasons to fear that the BON Hotel Platinum Hall is presently unsafe for its intended use as public hall; we recommend that the seal by the Enugu Capital Territory Development Authority (ECTDA), be lifted for activities to resume in the hall.”
Based on the technical report, the ECTDA unsealed the facility and it has since been in use.
Conducting a final lap of the integrity test on the building, Chairman of the COREN committee for the evaluation of the building, Bartholomew Edeh said they were satisfied with the structural materials they saw in the building.
Edeh, who spoke to newsmen shortly after conducting the integrity test, said: “Nobody invited us, our mandate is the COREN act. We heard what happened through social media and we came; COREN is the regulatory body of engineering in Nigeria and we are members of the Enugu state team; we came here on April 6; we looked around and checked everywhere. We started looking if there was anything we could see, starting from the hall on top and we came down and checked too and we haven’t seen anything that will make us comment on the contrary.”
