Building collapse: Govt must do more to curb repeat of incident – Osun NIS Chairman

Chairman, Nigerian Institute of Surveyors, in Osun state, Dr. Joseph Fadahunsi, on Tuesday, said the government has a lot of responsibilities to curb building collapse across the country.

He also called for the arrest of officials and associates of the owners of the 21-story building in Lagos for proper prosecution over the sad incident.

Fadahunsi, who spoke during the investiture of the new executive committee for the state held at White Plain Center, Osogbo noted that many factors are responsible for the collapse of a building.

Highlighting the possible cause of building, he said, “The owner may hire or patronize quacks, relegating the professionals, use of substandard materials and poor investigation of the soil and environment where the structure is erected.”

According to Dr. Fadahunsi, “proper investigation is not done in the location or the land. In advanced countries, geologists or structure engineers will have to work on the soil. Building house surveyors, builders, structure engineers, geologists among others must be involved.

“Government has a lot of responsibilities in curbing collapse of buildings. In government ministries, they have a shortage of manpower. In schools these days, they lack manpower because many schools don’t have qualified lecturers and this affects the students when they are practicing. Government must ensure they employ capable hands as lecturers in training institutions.

“According to the law when a building collapses, the owner, those in charge should be arrested and prosecuted. They would have signed a portion in the approval of the building and if anything happen they should be held responsible.”