Probe into collapsed building at Ofankor in limbo as caretakers clear site
A probe into the collapse of a three-storey building in Ofankor, Ghana, has been hampered after the owners and caretakers of the building cleared and disposed of the entire debris from the site.
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The Engineering Council, which is leading the investigation, had instructed the caretaker to keep the site locked and undisturbed until a technical team could visit on Monday. However, by the time the team arrived, the site had been cleared.
The council said in a statement that the clearance of the debris would make it more difficult to conduct a detailed forensic investigation into the collapse. However, it said that it would do its best to investigate the matter as thoroughly as possible.
The council also reminded the general public that tampering with a crime scene is a crime and can hamper investigations.
The collapse of the building in Ofankor is the latest in a series of building collapses in Ghana in recent months. In April and May of this year, five buildings collapsed, killing at least 22 people.
Read also: This 3-storey building collapsed at Ofankor in Accra Saturday morning [VIDEO]
The Engineering Council is urging the general public to remain calm and to use qualified engineering practitioners and architects when designing and constructing buildings.
Read the entire statement below;
ENGINEERING COUNCIL
PRESS RELEASE
PRELIMINARY STATEMENT ON THE COLLAPSE OF A THREE-STOREY BUILDING IN GA NORTH MUNICIPAL ASSEMBLY, BEHIND OFANKOR MARKET, ACCRA
The attention of the Engineering Council has been drawn to the sudden collapse of a three-storey building under construction behind the Ofankor Market within the Ga North Municipality of Accra.
The Engineering Council through two of its collaborative agencies - National Disaster Management Organization (NADMO) and the Ghana Police Service were first to visit the site to undertake an initial assessment.
Since the building was in a walled compound, strict instructions were issued to the caretaker of the project to keep the place locked and nothing interfered with on the site until Monday when a technical team from the Engineering Council was to visit.
Unfortunately, by the time the team got to the site on Monday, the owners and caretakers had cleared and disposed of the entire debris away from the site.
It must be stated that with the current situation, detailed forensic investigations on the collapse will be more challenging. Together with its partners (Ghana National Fire Service, Ghana Police Service, National Disaster Management Organization, Local Government Service, Architects Registration Council as well as the various professional institutions within the built environment), the Engineering Council will nonetheless do its utmost to ensure that it undertake as much investigation as available debris, access to site and information from the necessary collaborative State entities will enable.
On this note, the Council wishes to remind the general public that anytime there is a disaster such as building collapse, the location becomes a crime scene and any attempt(s) to tamper with anything on site is also a crime and hampers effective investigations into the disaster.
The critical outcomes of this investigation will be shared with the relevant State authorities as well as general public together with recommendations to guide all affected parties.
The Engineering Council also wishes to assure the general public that investigations into the five building collapses that occurred between April and May this year are at various stages of completion.
The Engineering Council will publish critical aspects of these reports of those investigations very soon for the attention of the general public.
While awaiting these outcomes, the Engineering Council wishes to urge all to remain calm. We also want to remind the general public that the Engineering Council Act, 2011 (Act 819) and the Engineering Regulations 2020 (LI 2410) enjoins all who are involved in the engineering space to constantly engage licensed engineering practitioners, firms and entities in the design, construction and supervision of all structures and services of engineering nature. Similarly, the Architects Act, Act 1969, NLCD 357 enjoins all developers to use qualified Architects and in good standing to design their buildings in Ghana.
The general public is hereby requested to take note and be guided accordingly.
CHAIRMAN, ENGINEERING COUNCIL
Accra
26th September, 2023