Building Collapse-Residents Association calls for prosecution of FHA officials

… Seek return to original Abuja Model City II plan

Residents of Gwarinpa Estate on Saturday protested what they described as poor handling and approval of the two-storey building under construction that collapsed over a week ago in Abuja.

Three people were confirmed dead while dozens of people working on the site were trapped, rescued and later rushed to a nearby hospital.

Briefing reporters on the development, Chairman of ADKAN Estate Residents Association, Kabir Akanbi, called for the arrest and prosecution of Federal Housing Authority (FHA) officials that approved and monitored the collapsed building.

Akanbi urged the Minister of the Federal Capital Territory (FCT), Malam Muhammad Bello, to ensure the review of the original design of Abuja Model City II Gwarinpa plan.

He said the return to the original design as set in the Abuja Model City II plan

when the estate was first conceived will help avert future building collapse.

Akanbi said: “The heartrending images of human beings buried under collapsed buildings and bodies being pulled from rubbles have dominated the media space since the turn of this year and have assailed our collective consciousness. We join the rest of the global community in praying for the repose of the souls of the departed and hope the families find the fortitude to bear these losses.

“The collapse of the storey building on the 6th Avenue in Gwarinpa, Abuja represents the culmination of the continuing trend of illegally converting buildings and green areas purposely designed as residences and public utilities for commercial purposes.

“Government officials responsible for the approval and monitoring of the collapsed building should be arrested and prosecuted.

“We have observed the recent increase of these commercial buildings all around us contrary to the original design as set in the Abuja Model City II plan when our estate was first conceived. We have equally been grappling with the numerous costs of these forced conversions, such as the traffic log jams we now experience on a daily basis, the increase in insecurity, which naturally follows commercialisation, as criminals suddenly see opportunities for nefarious acts.

“The collapse is the ugly and extreme manifestation of the ravenous appetite for commercialisation that has taken hold within our estate in recent years and which, apparently has neither respect for legal boundaries nor peaceable habitation.”

Source: thenationonlineng