Tina Amanda
The Judicial Commission of Inquiry set up by Rivers State Government to investigate the remote and immediate cause of the collapsed seven Storey building under construction at Number 119 Woji Road, Plot 80 GRA Phase 2, Port Harcourt has commenced sitting at the state high court, Port Harcourt.
Chairman of the panel of inquiry, Justice ADOLPHUS ENEBELI in his inaugural speech said the commission will carry out its duties to ascertain whether the said construction plot is covered by any valid or requisite approval issued by the ministry or appropriate agencies of the government.
According to Justice ENELI, the five-man commission of inquiry will also focus on identifying the owner of the building and the bearer of the Certificate of Occupancy (C of O) of the collapsed building.
Justice ENEBELI stressed further that the inquiry panel will ascertain whether appropriate soil tests were carried out before the certificate was issued for the building and to recommend possible ways of preventing further occurrence of such disaster as well as recommend sanctions for offenders.
Justice ENEBELI urged members of the public not to see the commission as a means to witch-hunt anyone but assured them of unbias discharge of their responsibilities, while calling on anyone with useful evidence to tender such.
During the cross-examination, Commissioner for Health, Professor PRINCEWILL CHIKE said his ministry responded actively in the rescue operation, adding that seventeen corpses were recovered while thirty-one persons were rescued in the operation.
Professor Chike also stated that the corpses have been deposited in three mortuaries and the survivors who sustained levels of injuries were treated at Rivers state teaching hospital and some private hospitals.
In his response during cross-examination, commissioner for Special Duties, JOHN BAZIA stated the roles his ministry played during the rescue operations but pleaded with the commission to recognize the 21 young men who risked their lives to save others during the rescue operation.
The commissioner further said that about seven hundred bags of cement were said to have been loaded in one of the floors of the seven-story building which might also be a causative factor.
On his part, former Commissioner for Urban Development and Physical Planning, Dr Reason Onya, told the panel that the approval of the seven-story collapsed building was not done in his tenure, but was approved in 2014, adding that it was revalidated in 2018 for just four-storey building.
