A renowned civil Engineer in Delta State, Engr. Joshua Egube has expressed optimism that the incidences of collapsed buildings in the country would be a forgone decimal in the country if successive governments would be bold enough to initiate deliberate policies aimed at checking the trends.
Part of the policies, according to him should be a deliberate move by the government to ensure that before a letter of award is given to any contractor, the contractor must bring to the appropriate authority all the professionals that he or she intends to engage on the project for vetting. Speaking shortly after being conferred with an award in recognition of his sterling contributions to the Engineering profession in the country and beyond by the Bwari Branch of the Nigerian Society of Engineers, Egube who is currently the Director, Highway Engineering in the Delta State Ministry of Works explained that the move is necessary in order to save the country’s image as well as its citizens.
Egube who was former Chairman, administrative Board of Enquiry into collapse buildings in Delta State (2019) said, “In Delta State, for instance, we told all the contractors to ensure that they employ professionals, but not all of them are doing that and this is true, affecting us greatly. “We should begin to do something deliberate to save our image and country. It should come to pass that before a letter of the ward is given to a contractor, he or she must be mandated to bring all his or her team of professionals
“It pains me that today we are still talking about collapsed buildings. Why should our buildings be collapsing? We can put an end to this ugly scenario in this country if we do some simple things. “First, we must ensure that anybody who is building his or her house is mandated to submit his or her drawings as well as bring his entire team-Architect, etc and those team should be made to undergo an undertaking that such building will not fail.
“This is necessary because, if those involved in the building projects know that their licences are at risk, they will not do the wrong thing. “We should stop blaming the government for collapsed buildings rather we should begin to hold those concerned accountable”, Egube advised.
(Vanguard)
