It looks like the construction sector is in crisis. Physical structures are springing up all over the country, with little or no supervision.
Although existing building regulations require that certain standards be strictly adhered to, developers do things their own way.
Accra’s skyline, for instance, has changed overnight, with many apartment buildings dominating the landscape.
We are skeptical whether the regulatory authorities are subjecting these concrete works to scrutiny.
Over the last two years some major buildings have collapsed, largely as a result of poor supervision.
About two years ago, the building housing Melcom Shop at Achimota collapsed, killing 14 people.
Last year, the Methodist Church building under construction at Sakaman collapsed as a result of poor works.
The collapse of a seven-storey building at Nii Boi Town, killing one person and seriously injuring another, must awaken us from our deep slumber to enable us to take action to prevent a recurrence.
It is certain that this tragedy could have been avoided if building inspectors of the Accra Metropolitan Assembly (AMA) had done their work well.
We are looking forward to the day when top officials responsible for institutions of state would resign as a result of their acts of commission or omission.
When the hotel building at Nii Boi Town collapsed, officials of state who matter rushed to the scene to get first-hand information on the tragedy.
These are powerful men and women in our society and they saw the incompetent manner in which the seven-storey hotel was being constructed, in defiance of protests from residents of the area.
We may be right in saying that the Works Department of the AMA and those of other assemblies are simply not working. The works engineers can bark by posting “Stop Work, Produce Permit” inscriptions on buildings but they are unable to exact any punishment on those who disregard the statutory regulations.
The Daily Graphic wonders why the AMA had not been able to deal with the developer of the building if, indeed, it had warned him to desist from continuing with the works due to safety concerns.
We consider the claims being made that the developer was warned as a way of trying to rationalise the AMA’s failure to avert the needless loss of life and injury.
If we are to be taken seriously as a nation, we must not allow this impunity to continue in the construction sector and in all facets of our development agenda.
The Daily Graphic calls on the regulatory authorities to crack the whip on recalcitrant developers to restore sanity in the construction industry.
The mad rush by many people to put a roof over their heads has led to the construction of various sub-standard structures in all parts of the country.
We, therefore, call for an immediate audit of all structures to ensure that they meet the standards, while those that do not satisfy the building regulations should be pulled down.
In the interim, the Daily Graphic is demanding immediate public disclosure of the outcome of investigations into buildings that collapsed recently.
