Building and Road Consultant, Ing. Abdulai Mahama, has called on Metropolitan, Municipal and District Assemblies (MMDAs) to deepen collaboration with qualified building professionals in the issuance of permits and the supervision of public infrastructure projects.
His remarks follow the temporary closure of the Amasaman China Mall in the Ga West Municipality after parts of the structure collapsed on Sunday, December 28, injuring two people.
Speaking to Citi News, Engineer Mahama called for a comprehensive investigation into the incident for appropriate sanctions to be applied where lapses are established.
“The assemblies may also have to help us in this. I am strongly putting a lot of this blame on the doorstep of the various local assemblies. Because if the assembly is bereft of the technical know-how, they can cooperate with other structural engineers when the buildings are beyond them for them to vet those buildings prior to the construction.
“Let me just give you a typical example on the Dome Pillar 2 stretch. Suddenly within the last one month I’ve seen just across the biggest stream that connects to the Abofu stretch, on the right-hand side, a structure that I knew was not necessarily a shopping structure. It’s now receiving another China Mall. In fact, I saw trailers parked outside and I asked them what was happening.
“They said the building there is a new Chinese mall or a China Mall which is coming up along the stretch. So, you see some of the buildings have a different purpose and different purpose structures go with different load design.”
