Gov’t to Probe Avenor Building Collapse as Interior Minister Calls on Assemblies to Enforce Regulations
The government has announced the establishment of an investigative committee to look into the circumstances surrounding the collapse of a three-storey building at Avenor in the Greater Accra Region that claimed two lives on Sunday, June 7.
Interior Minister Mohammed Muntaka Mubarak made the announcement during a visit to the collapse site, describing the growing frequency of building collapse incidents in Ghana as a matter of serious concern that demands urgent and decisive action.
He said the committee would be tasked with establishing the root cause of the tragedy, assigning responsibility where appropriate, and recommending concrete measures to prevent similar disasters from occurring in the future.
While acknowledging that pinning down a timeline for the committee’s findings was premature, the minister pledged that the process would be handled with urgency.
“We are going to set up a committee to investigate, but it will be very difficult for me to stand here and say when the report will be out. But I believe we will be very swift so we can prevent these things from happening,” he said.
The minister also directed Metropolitan, Municipal and District Assemblies across the country to tighten their enforcement of building regulations, calling on engineers and technical officers to be more diligent in carrying out their oversight responsibilities.
“We want the assemblies and their engineers to be up and doing so that we can support them to have a very safe environment when it comes to granting building permits. I believe my colleague Local Government Minister will speak with the MMDCEs to do the right thing,” he said.
Mr. Muntaka stressed that rigorous enforcement of building codes and consistent monitoring of construction activity are not optional extras but essential safeguards for the lives and property of Ghanaians — and that the government was committed to making sure those safeguards are upheld.
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