FG blacklist coy over collapsed Navy building in Abuja

The Federal Executive  Council (FEC) Wednesday approved the black listing of E.C. Oba Industrial Company Limited, the contractor that handled the collapsed Navy building in Gwarinpa, Abuja in January 2012.

According to the Chairman of the Probe Committee set by government to investigate the incident, the Minister of Lands and Urban Development, Mrs Ama Pepple, said the technical officers who designed and supervised the building were found guilty, also that the company hired to demolish the collapsed building was equally incompetent.

Pepple in a memo brought to appraise council of the Revised report of the cabinet committee to investigate the collapsed Nigerian Navy Building  to seek council's consideration and approval of its recommendations for the implementation.

Part of the approved recommendations are that the company can not hand any building contract for federal, state or individual, while the purported engineers that were hired by the Navy to demolish the faulty building are to be prosecuted by COREN.

Also, the Officer in the Navy who supervised it will be disciplined according to Navy and public service rules. Similar sanctions will be metted out for the Ministry of Lands and Urban development officials involved.

President Jonathan had in July last year ordered that those who supervised the construction and demolition of the two-storey building belonging should be sanctioned.

It would be recalled that the building located on 45 Road, Gwarinpa Estate, Abuja, which belonged to the Nigerian Navy collapsed in January killing two people. Also while it was being demolished, it trapped three others.

In the same vein, President Jonathan had also directed that henceforth supervision of all public buildings must be done by the Department of Public Building either in the Federal Capital Development Authority (FCDA), or in the Federal Ministry of Housing to ensure quality.

A committee was set up within the Council to investigate the incident. The report revealed that the poor construction of the building led to severe stress which necessitated the decision to demolish it.

The members of the council had ordered that those responsible for the supervision of the building should be identified while the committee should recommend appropriate sanctions to be  applied on those found culpable in the discharge of their official responsibilities.