The Engineering Council has urged the public to desist from visiting disaster scenes as those locations have now become crime scenes.
The council said any attempt to tamper with anything on the sites hampers effective investigations.
This comes after owners and caretakers had cleared and disposed of the entire debris away from a collapsed building under construction.
In a press release issued by the Chairman of the Council, he said the council issued strict instructions to the caretakers to keep the place locked since it was a walled compound, and ensure that nothing interferes with the rubble until an official inspection by the council’s technical team.
“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,” parts of the statement read.
The council noted that despite the difficulty, they would work diligently with NADMO, the police and other partners to ensure that it undertakes as much investigation as they can with the available debris, access to the site and information from the necessary collaborative state entities.
No casualties were recorded, but it is unclear what caused the damage.
It said in collaboration with the National Disaster Management Organisation (NADMO), and the Ghana Police Service, investigations have been initiated into the collapse of a three-storey building at Ofankor within the Ga North Municipality of Accra after visiting the site shortly after news to carry out a preliminary assessment of the damage.
The council also urged the public to engage licensed engineering practitioners, firms and entities in the design, construction and supervision of all structures and services of an engineering nature as required by the Engineering Council Act, 2011 (Act 819) and the Engineering Regulations 2020 (LI 2410).
“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.”
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 Organisation, Local Government Service, Architects Registration Council as well as the various professional institutions within the built environment), it said the council will 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.
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.
It also assured the public that investigations into the five building collapses that occurred between April and May this year were at various stages of completion, and that the council will publish critical aspects of the reports of those investigations very soon for the attention of the general public.
BY TIMES REPORTER
