ENGINEERS and building inspectors from the Plaisance/Industry Neighbourhood Democratic Council are probing the circumstances surrounding the collapse of a house which was under construction at Back Street, Ogle, East Coast Demerara.

A 23-year-old worker and father of one who was working on the house at the time, was pinned by a concrete beam from the house. He was among four persons working at the construction site at the time of the tragedy. Up to late last evening, he was still being treated at a medical institution for his injures. This publication could not immediately confirm if the injuries are life-threatening.

The injured man has been identified as Agaffi Obermuller, a resident of Ogle, and who lives across the road from where the house was under construction.
His sister, Christina, said that her brother began working on the house from its inception and was hired by a businessman/lumber dealer, named ‘Davo’.

Concerns had been raised about the integrity of the building which was under construction, with persons being alarmed at the pace at which the foundation was laid, the columns erected, the blocks laid and roof installed.

It is, however, unclear if these concerns were raised with the local authorities or any representative from that office. In addition, the workers on site, including the hospitalised man, were all said to be working without any safety gear.
On Tuesday, residents of the community reported that they had observed the foundation for the building being laid and shortly after that the walls were being erected, without a proper period left for the curing of the concrete.

They said too, that that prior to construction of the house, the land on which it was being built was a swamp.
A man who identified himself as the contractor for the house told this newspaper that the land was properly sand-filled. When asked how many truckloads of sand were placed at the location for the sand-filling, he said 11 truckloads.

Meanwhile, hours after the collapse of the structure, neither the police nor officials from NDC had showed up to investigate and it took the intervention of this publication to initiate contact with the authorities.

`Davo’ who was identified as the lumber dealer, when contacted said that he was not the person responsible for the construction and that he was just doing it for a friend who was overseas and had just asked him to assist. But it was the worker who identified himself as the contractor who had said it was the lumber dealer who owns the property, and had contracted the men to work on the structure.

The Chronicle was also told of the structure being rented for various purposes, including tenancy.
It is unclear if with this development the local authorities in the area will seek to have their engineers test the structural integrity of other buildings, which are said to be controlled by the lumber dealer.