The Federal Capital Territory Administration (FCTA), through the development control department said that it would soon commence massive integrity tests on buildings in parts of the Federal Capital Territory (FCT) to ascertain their integrity status.
Speaking during the demolition of a three-storey building, under construction, at 3rd Avenue in Gwarinpa district, at the weekend, the director, department of development control, Mukhtar Usman Galadima, expressed the fear that many buildings, both completed and under construction, in the FCT have integrity questions.
“In fact, as we speak, the department has decided to embark on a massive integrity tests on buildings. This is because we have observed that a lot of buildings in the Federal Capital Territory (FCT) lack integrity to the point that even when you stand outside such buildings, you can see that their integrity is questionable.”
Galadima disclosed that the exercise would be conducted in collaboration with Council of Registered Engineers of Nigeria (COREN) and other agencies to reduce likely cases of building collapse in the FCT.
He stated that the demolished building, which belongs to Federal Ministry of Power, Works and Housing Estate in Gwarinpa, was built with low quality materials and therefore cannot with stand the test of time.
The director maintained that the building, which was being constructed under the process of urban renewal project of the ministry, has no approval from the department, while the developer has not submitted any design to the department for approval before embarking on the construction.
Galadima disclosed that both the owner of the building and the engineer have gone into hiding, adding that the Federal Capital Territory Administration (FCTA) has therefore reclaimed the plot, because of the incident.
He therefore advised developers in the FCT to always engage real professionals, not quacks, in their designs and to obtain their development permits before commencing constructions.
