http://tribuneonlineng.com/school-block-collapses-in-owerri

April 20, 2016

Written by: Joe Nwachukwu-Owerri

Luck was in favour of Orji Primary School pupils in Owerri North Local Government Area of Imo State as a section of their school building collapsed when they were on holiday.

Report Maka Ndigbo from Owerri, Imo State capital, stated that pupils of the primary school, last week, were spared of what could have been a massive disaster when a 12-classroom block building collapsed during a rain storm.

Maka Ndigbo gathered that the collapsed building was one of newest structures at the primary school. However, no life was lost in the incident as pupils and their teachers were on holiday.

People, who visited the site of the collapsed building, told Maka Ndigbo that what could have been a serious and unfortunate incident was averted by the fact that schools in the state were still on holiday when the incident occurred.

The Orji Primary School is said to be accommodating several hundred pupils and teachers.

The issue of collapsed building in the country, according to some eye witnesses, is not new, but that a newly constructed building by the state government to collapse due to rain storm indicates a bad job by the contractors.

Imo State government has been severally accused of doing inferior jobs in the state as some of the roads the government constructed have been nicknamed “China Made’ which connotes non-durability.

The roads constructed by the state government are known to have been washed away by the first rains. Close observers say that the state government normally award road contracts to those who know little or nothing about road construction. And the contractors, they say, often turn out to do shabby works as expected.

Some people also believe that non payment for jobs done by the government may be responsible for shabby deals by the contractors.

According to tenants who live near the primary school, the school building collapsed due to the impact of a heavy wind storm and rain fall last weekend.

While there was no casualty recorded after the incident, members of the community expressed dismay over the collapse, saying it was a bad statement on the image of the state government.

The roof of the one story collapsed building was shattered, splitting the building into two.

A civil engineer, who pleaded anonimity, told Maka Ndigbo that most of the buildings were not well constructed.

He also accused the civil engineers in the state Ministry of Housing, who were supposed to supervise the construction work on the building, of negligence.

He said: “Government should look into construction of buildings. These buildings must be built based on certain standards so as to withstand strong wind and rain storm. Sadly, some Engineers act in ignorance of basic and key building principles”.

The collapsed school building was one of several others built in some wards in the state by the government under the free education programme of the state.

There are fears now over what happens to pupils and their teachers who are supposed to go back to the buildings when schools reopen later this month.

Some parents, who spoke to Maka Ndigbo, were of the view that government should assure them of the safety of their children in those schools after the vacation.

Mynd44, Lalasticlala

Rochas is working.

Anyways, tank God for saving the life of the pupils.