Owner of collapsed building, 5 others granted bail
Six persons including the owner of the storey building which collapsed at Nii Boi Town in Accra, Mr S. K. Omari, have been granted bail.
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The others are Mr Moses Abbey, the contractor; Mr George Benefo, Head of Building Inspectorate at the Okaikoi North Sub Metro; and his two assistants, Messrs Frank Lartey and George Agyari, and one other person from the Accra Metropolitan Assembly (AMA) office whose name was not readily available.
They were arrested on Friday, March 14, 2014, after the AMA had conducted preliminary investigations into the incident.
No charges yet
The Tesano Divisional Crime Officer, Deputy Superintendent of Police (DSP), Mr Stephen Donyinah Kyeremeh, told the Daily Graphic that even though the suspects had been granted police enquiry bail they had not yet been charged with any offence.
“This is a technical case. There is the need for technical investigations. It is not like arresting someone for robbery or rape. It is a case that requires thorough investigation and so as it is now we cannot charge them.”
Mr Kyeremeh said the suspect would, per the bail requirement, be reporting at the station on daily basis while investigations continued.
Negligence
The AMA, which came under fire following the collapse of the building, had indicated in a statement signed by its Chief Executive, Dr Alfred Okoe Vanderpuije, that the assembly’s investigations had established that the building inspectors at the Okaikoi North Sub-Metro were liable for acts of negligence.
It said they had not followed the proper procedure in their monitoring activities.
The building inspectors at the sub-metro were subsequently interdicted for six months without pay.
writer’s email: emelia.ennin@graphic.com.gh