SAFE ENGINEERING

THE Engineering Institute of Zambia has been found wanting and they are scrambling to find reasons to make themselves relevant.

It is obvious that something is wrong when the institution has to wait for the republican President to complain for them to start highlighting wrongs. Wrongs which have in this instance been not only dispelled but rubbished by the building engineers and the owners.

The Daily Nation was indeed concerned to learn that the Society Business Park, which houses among others, a hotel and bank, has been running in a not so safe condition as revealed by the EIZ and decided to investigate the matter further.

After contacting not only the National Pension Scheme Authority (NAPSA), the owners of the building and the engineers engaged to investigate the cracks, we discovered that the EIZ was less than truthful in their report to the President.

What we discovered was that the building does not have the 1, 600 columns that were stated by the EIZ, but 774 of which 120 were found wanting and have since been worked on and near completion.

NAPSA are not amused that the EIZ had given President Lungu a wrong picture of what was obtaining on the ground with regard to the Society Business Park building. If the building is not safe, why is it still being used?

NAPSA director general, Yollard Kachinda, who confirmedthat the building did not have 1, 600 columns the latest report issued last month indicated that everything was on course.

Mr Kachinda wondered where EIZ got its ‘false’ report on Society Business Park ongoing works.

During the courtesy call, EIZ president Abel Ng'andu told President Lungu that it was about 1, 200 columns that failed out of 1, 600 columns which were tested.

Eng Ng'andu said that the technical audit that was carried out revealed the claimed outcome.

What is perplexing however is why the EIZ would have allowed the building to continue housing businesses with thousands of people plying their trade there and many others shopping therein, knowing well that the structure or part of it was not safe.

It is this hypocrisy by professionals that we find most unsettling as it is a betrayal of the trust that ordinary Zambians repose in the people who are supposed to certify the safety of buildings.

The EIZ revelations of wrongs is actually an indictment against themselves because this is a team that should have been working to ensure that wrongs are corrected and those not adhering to rules are sanctioned. That is what we expect from professional bodies.

And now that their report to State House has been challenged, we await to hear their justification for not knowing the details of Society Business Park and in particular how many columns the building actually has.

Henry Musonda, an independent engineer contracted to investigate the cracks that developed on the newly constructed building, yesterday countered the EIZ report insisting that the Society Business Park is safe to trade in as the strength of the columns which were affected is being doubled and works are now at 74 percent to completion.

Mr Musonda of Killian Musonda and Associates said only 160 columns of the 774 column building need strengthening and that the extent of the damage was nothing unusual.

This follows claims by the EIZ when they paid a courtesy call on President Lungu yesterday that 1, 200 columns of Business Park had developed cracks.

The claims prompted the Head of State to declare the building “a death trap,” which indeed it would be if more than 70 percent of the structure was not safe.

And this is where we call into question the conduct and work of the EIZ, if they could allow a faulty building to continue being utilised after discovering serious lapses.

We would advise the EIZ to firstly put its house in order and ensure that the work of its members speak for them.

It is also flabbergasting that the cost of road infrastructure development are so high in Zambia compared to other countries in the region.

It is not only President Lungu who is shocked with this development but many Zambians have been complaining and some assume that politicians were benefitting from such projects.

Had President Lungu not highlighted the engineering shoddy works that he found during his tour of Lufwanyama on the Copperbelt, the country would have continued being subjected to the same mediocrity.

Professional bodies entrusted with serious responsibilities have a duty to act faithfully and fairly on behalf of the many Zambians who rely on their expertise.