Rivers Government Blames Federal Agency After Port Harcourt Building Collapse Kills One

(Rivers State Map. Photo by Punch News)

The Rivers State Government has distanced itself from the building collapse that occurred along Odili Road in Port Harcourt, clarifying that it did not approve the plans for the five-storey structure that came down, k!ll!ng one person and leaving three others injured.

The state government said the building plan was instead approved by the Federal Housing Authority.

The Commissioner for Physical Planning and Urban Development, Dr Edward Hart, made this known while addressing journalists in Port Harcourt, describing the incident as unfortunate.

Hart urged property developers to strictly comply with approved building plans, amid reports that the structure had originally been sanctioned as a three-storey hotel before being extended to five floors.

He expressed concern that two building collapses had taken place in the state within a single week, the other being a three-storey building that went down in the Rumuelumeni area of Port Harcourt without any casualties.

The commissioner said the state government would step up monitoring and move against buildings erected without proper authorisation, while reiterating that the Odili Road structure never received state government approval.

“It’s a straight one. When a building plan is approved, always ensure that you keep to the approved plan. Don’t go outside the plan.

As long as you keep to the approved plan, use quality materials and qualified personnel at your construction site, the building will definitely be intact,” he said.

He added that the collapsed building was approved by the Federal Housing Authority, which was also represented on site, and called for an urgent review of activities across civil construction sites in light of recent events.

Hart stressed the need for stronger collaboration between the Ministry of Physical Planning and Urban Development and relevant professional bodies in the construction industry, calling for tighter control of the approval process to weed out unqualified practitioners and eliminate the use of substandard materials and personnel on building projects.

He attributed several building collapse incidents to non-compliance with approved designs and the deployment of inferior materials by some contractors and construction professionals, noting that the use of substandard materials remained a persistent challenge even where monitoring was in place.