Preliminary investigations into the collapse of a three-storey building at Avenor in North Kaneshie indicate that the structure may have been built without a permit from the Accra Metropolitan Assembly (AMA), according to an engineer assisting with the probe.
Speaking to journalists at the scene, Prince Kas-Avotri of the Ghana Institute of Engineering said initial findings suggest the building lacked the required approval from the assembly.
“From what we are hearing, it looks like the assembly has not given out any permit,” he said. “We are here to confirm that fully, but the building has no permit.” He explained that the absence of a permit means there may have been no approved architectural or engineering plans guiding the construction.
“If a building has no permit, it means that there are no planned works signed by an architect or a built environment specialist or an engineer for the construction to go on,” he said.
Kas-Avotri stressed that investigations remain ongoing and that samples collected from the site will undergo further testing before a definitive cause is established.
“We are still in the preliminary stage. We picked some samples here. We’ll go and do some tests. We’ll do some models, and then we’ll come out with the actual findings of what has gone on,” he said.
The collapse, which occurred on Sunday, June 7, claimed two lives and left two others injured. Emergency responders, including the Ghana National Fire Service, NADMO, the Ghana Police Service and the Ghana Armed Forces, have since completed rescue and excavation operations.
The incident comes days after another building collapsed in Adenta New Site on June 3, which killed one person and injured four others, sparking renewed concerns over compliance with building regulations in Accra.
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