The Ghana Chamber of Construction Industry has placed the blame for the collapse of four ongoing building projects in the country within the past two weeks squarely on the Metropolitan, Municipal and District Assemblies (MMDAs).
The Chamber believes that the failure of the MMDAs to effectively assess the work of land developers intending to erect buildings is the root cause of the collapsed structures.
The Ghana Chamber of Construction Industry asserts that some land developers engage quack engineers to supervise construction works and thus cut corners in building projects.
Mr. Emmanuel Cherry, the Chief Executive Officer (CEO) of the Ghana Chamber of Construction Industry, spoke out on the issue in an interview with Citi FM.
He called on authorities to take action against land developers who flout structural integrity rules.
According to Mr. Cherry, the country has advanced technologies that can only be manned by professionals, but developers often hire unskilled workers who cannot provide the quality work needed.
The CEO identified the ineffective assessment of work by some MMDAs as another significant challenge in the industry. He emphasized that until the authorities crack down on these practices, the problem of collapsed buildings will persist.
“There are technologies in the system that are well advanced, that can only be manned by professionals. But what do we see? Developers just fall on any roadside mason, call them to site and give them whatsoever amount of money and then expect them to deliver quality for them. Some of the MMDAs also fail to effectively assess the work of land developers. These are some of the challenges we are having as an industry. So until we crack the whip, it will be very difficult to arrest the menace,” Mr. Cherry said.
Mr. Cherry announced that a stakeholder engagement would be held next week to address the concerns of the Ghana Chamber of Construction Industry. During the engagement, the necessary observations and recommendations to improve the industry’s practices will be made public.
The CEO hinted that the stakeholders would take responsibility for any faults on their part, including those by government agencies.
The latest incident at the Word In Action Church at old Bortianor is the most recent in a series of collapsed buildings, including the UDS City Campus at Sagnarigu, and the collapse of two separate three-storey buildings at Madina and Adentan in Accra.