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Nigeria: Anambra Begins Re-Certification of Building Plans in Onitsha
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Vanguard (Lagos)
28 March 2008
Posted to the web 28 March 2008
Enyim Enyim
Onitsha
Owners of high rising buildings above four floors without lifts in Onitsha may face hard times as the state government has given indication that it would soon begin re-certification of building plans.
Chairman, Anambra Urban Development Board (ASUDEB) Mr. Okey Chukwuogo told newsmen that the exercise would start as soon as the actual number of such buildings in Onitsha and other major cities in the state have been ascertained.
Chukwuogo said owners of such buildings would be compelled to install lift in their buildings or face sanctions.
He said so far, over five thousand of such buildings have been sported in Onitsha adding that their owners built their houses contrary to the approved specification of ASUDEB.
He noted that the implication of such buildings was that they caused health hazards to the residents.
"With the speed illegal structures spring up in the business areas of the state, epidemic is likely if no proper check is put in place.
We must ventilate the cities. Some of them had approval for four floors without lift but they violated the approval", he said.
"If you have money to build up to six storey building without considering the health condition of the occupants who climb the stair cases, you should also have enough to install lift in them or you have us to contend with", he said.
On collapsed buildings in the state, Chukwuogo said henceforth builders must submit their building plans to the Board for scrutiny or have the structure demolished adding that there would be no "sacred cow".
Citing the case of a collapsed four storey building in Okpuno Awka which killed four people three weeks ago, the Chairman said the structure was not only substandard and not registered with the board but the owners had disobeyed a stop work order issued to him by the Board.
He said for the Board to be vibrant enough to shoulder the responsibilities entrusted on it, laws setting up the establishment should be reviewed so that Chief Executives could run their affairs for utmost result
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He further said that a supervisory team, at the Awka Headquarters of ASUDEB has been set up to go round the four zones of the Board weekly to render assistance to them adding that efforts are currently being made to recruit more staff.
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