Abia builds Materials testing Laboratory to forestall building collapses
BY GORDI UDEAJAH
In the bid to proactively check incidents of building collapsing in Abia state , the state government has set up Building Materials Testing Laboratory in the state
General Manager, Umuahia Capital Development Authority, (UCDA) Mr Kingsley Agomo said that the measure was informed by the need to pre-test and certify materials before their use in building including those sold in the markets.
He spoke while taking journalists of the Correspondents Chapel of the Abia State Council of the Nigeria Union of Journalists on an inspection tour of the multi-million naira digital laboratory, located in the UCDA premises.
He said , ” this is to bring an end to the era of building collapse. And it is now mandatory/compulsory that anybody erecting any structure must bring the samples of the materials for testing in the Lab before the materials are approved for use”.
He described setting of the Laboratory as another amazing unique project undertaken by the less than three years in office state governor Dr Alex Otti, of the Labour Party.
According the UCDA General Manager, met Abia state as one lacking many basic infrastructures, hence he vowed to reverse the scenario, and return the legacy projects put in places by late former/old Imo state governor Dr Sam Mbakwe and late premier of the defunct Eastern region , Dr Michael Okpara, stating that their governance brought a lot of impact and development during their time.
“Governor Otti is intentional in bringing Abia state at par with other developed cities across the world”, Agomoh adding “we must consequently begin to get things right, such that every projectors on the streets of Umuahia we removed, every structures blocking path ways and drainages we removed , are for the good of the state, thus, our cities must be planned properly.We therefore need to make sacrifice to move forward”.
Chairman/ Leader of the visiting Correspondents Chapel members , Comrade Steve Oko, commended the UCDA boss for bringing order, aesthetics and development to the state capital, assuring him that members of the chapel would subsist doing the needful that would positively impact sustenance of his mandate in UCDA.
