…new NIA chairman calls for stricter supervision of building projects
Barely two weeks after a multi-storey building collapsed at Iriebe in Obio/Akpor Local Government Area of Rivers State, another two-storey building under construction at Ogbogoro, also in Obio/Akpor Local Government Area has collapsed killing the carpenter working on the roof of the building.
The collapse came as Arc. Tosan Omatsone, the new Chairman of the Nigerian Institute of Architects, NIA, called for greater collaboration between government agencies and professionals in the building industry for safer buildings and supervision of building projects.
Eyewitnesses told National Point that the building collapsed at about 2pm while the carpenter and other artisans were working at the site. The witness said when the other workers ran out of the building as soon as they heard a creaking noise that came before the collapse.
The carpenter who was said to be at the top of the building was buried in the rubble. It took several hours later for his corpse to be recovered from the rubble with the help of an excavator.
The Chief Security Officer of Ogbogoro community, Mr. Kingdom John, who was at the site of the building collapse with other officials of the community said the engineer supervising the project had often argued with the owner of the building over the amount of cement and quality of other material used in constructing the failed building.
“As a community we are not happy. We use this opportunity to appeal to government to investigate the incident. We don’t want to see another building collapse again
The NIA Chairman, Arc. Omatsone, who led a team of members of the new state executive committee to the site lamented the poor supervision of building projects in the state and called for involvement of professionals in the processes executing building projects.
Omatsone told National point that from what was gathered at the site, inappropriate materials were used in the construction of the house
She said, “We will have this kind of situation a lot because building projects are not something to play with. A lot of people take things for granted. People just go to site and build. If you don’t have proper plans and approvals and monitoring, these things will keep recurring.
Arc. Tosan Omatsone highlighted the importance of fostering partnerships between Architects and the government, beginning with the Ministry of Physical Planning and Urban Development. “There is a need for built industry professionals to operate within their specific areas of expertise. For instance, licensed architects should be responsible for reviewing architectural drawings as part of the building approval process,” she said.
She stressed that this approach ensures strict adherence to standards, with proper checks in place to confirm that qualified professionals are engaged both at the design stage and during project execution. “We must put these measures in place to prevent further loss of lives. Every life lost means the loss of valuable resources and money wasted due to improper practices. Our goal is to make things right,” Tosan added.
