There Was No Permit For Collapsed Building

The city authorities in Kumasi have established that the owner of the five-storey building which collapsed at Asawase on Sunday, killing one person and wounding 10 others, did not have a building permit.

The Metropolitan Engineer of the Kumasi Metropolitan Assembly (KMA), Mr Amponsah Mensah, said in an interview that further investigations are being conducted to ascertain whether the owner of the building, Alhaji Amudah, legally acquired the land.

He said the owner of the building could be charged with criminal negligence if he is found to have contravened the rules and regulations governing the acquisition of plots and the construction of buildings.

Rescue workers were still rummaging through the rubble in an attempt to find more bodies.

However, none had been found as of press time, but some people believed that there were people buried under the debris. Quite surprisingly, the rescuers were using hammers in their effort to break down the thick debris and the task looked a daunting one.

On Monday, the Development Control Officer of the KMA, Mr Amoako Asiama, said looking at the equipment at hand, it will take about one month to break through the debris.

The deceased has been identified as Akua Agyeiwaa, a nursing mother and resident of Asawase. She was among those working on the project on that fateful day.

Asked whether the KMA did monitor the project and why a "Stop Work" notice was not posted on it, Mr Amponsah Mensah said “the resources at the assembly's disposal are not enough for it to monitor every building project in the city”. He said the assembly is doing its best to prevent the erection of illegal structures in the city. He also said that the cause of the collapse is yet to be ascertained, since investigations are still underway.

There are still conflicting figures as to the number of people who were in the building at the time of the collapse. While some put it at 10, others claim was 11. Other sources say some people who were not working on the building were also resting in the building when it collapsed, so the figure could be higher.

The Ashanti Regional Minister, Mr S.K. Boafo, inspected the site hours after the building collapsed on Sunday and sympathised with the bereaved family. He gave the assurance that investigations into the collapse of the building will be conducted thoroughly to reach the bottom of the disaster.