Fashola blames collapse of Abuja mall on improper concrete mixture

Minister of Power, Works and Housing, Babatunde Fashola has blamed the collapse of a four-storey mall under construction in Wupa District of the Federal Capital Territory on improper mixture of the concrete.

He consequently charged construction workers to industrialise their processes to guarantee safety of the people who dwell in their buildings.

The plot owned by the Federal Housing Authority (FHA), was allocated to a private developer: Global Success Resources Limited, in 2009.

However, the Haastrup Mall and Entertainment centre were not part of the building plan approved by FHA.

Speaking during an inspection tour of the collapsed three-storey building, the minister said though search-and-rescue operation is still in progress, investigations into the immediate and remote causes of the collapse have commenced.

The Minister stressed the need to consider the cultural delineation of people before building houses.

“You can’t be building houses for people that are vulnerable and pretend that they are not there,” Fashola said.

He expressed satisfaction with the level of work done at the sites even as he harped on continued patronage of made-in-Nigeria technology to fulfill Federal Government’s desire to diversify the economy and create employment.

The minister also inspected the Phase 1, 2 and 3 of the Brick City Estate Kubwa developed by Urban Shelters Limited.

The estate, comprising 1500 housing units, is made up of bungalows and duplexes.

Chief Operating Officer of Urban Shelters Limited, Hajiya Saadiya Aminu, said the building materials used in constructing the estate were locally produced.

She noted that signature bricks are used in constructing the buildings, saying that the Federal Capital Territory Administration has ruled out construction of bungalows in the city.

At Lafarge Africa Plc construction site Idu yard, the head of Affordable Housing, Jumoke Adegunle, said that Lafarge housing units would promote federal government’s target on affordable housing delivery in Nigeria.