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Consulting engineers launch probe over collapsed building
2006-03-31 10:25:30
By Pacifique Nkeshimana
The Association of Consulting Engineers of Tanzania (Acet) said yesterday it was investigating whether an Acet member was involved in the construction of the four-storey building which collapsed in Dar es Salaam earlier in the month.
Acet Chairman Exaud Mushi said at a news conference that the association was conducting thorough investigations to establish whether an Acet member was consulted before the building was erected.
’Until now we have no information as to whether an Acet engineer was in one way or another involved in the construction of the Chang’ombe Village Inn building, but we are conducting investigations with a view of establishing the truth,’ he said.
Mushi said severe punitive measures would be taken against any Acet member who would be confirmed to have been involved in the ill-fated project.
He asked the public to insist on hiring Acet members to prevent similar incidents in the future, saying engineers applying for Acet membership underwent ’rigorous’ vetting before they were accepted into the association.
The Acet chairman urged city, municipal and town councils to make sure that they issue building permits to people whose applications had the endorsement of all professionals approved by the board of engineers.
’A minimum submission should contain an endorsement of a structural engineer for structures, a foundation or geotechnical engineer for foundations and electrical engineer for electricity and fire control, a mechanical engineer for plumbing, air conditioning and ventilation engineering,’ he said.
Meanwhile, Mushi said Acet would host the annual three-day meeting of the Group of African Members Association (Gama) from April 2 to 5 in Bagamoyo.
A total of 120 participants from Tanzania, Ghana, Kenya, Uganda, South Africa, Nigeria, Zambia, Egypt, Botswana, Tunisia, Australia and Switzerland were expected to attend, he added.
The President of the Federation of International Consulting Engineers (Fidic), Jorge Diaz Padilla, Fidic Managing Director Enrico Vinc and executives from the African Development Bank (AfDB) would also be in attendance.
Mushi said Tanzanian delegates would present two of the eight papers to be tabled at the meeting.
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