Melcom Plus building structurally sound, safe for use — AMA

The Accra Metropolitan Assembly (AMA) has described the Melcom Plus Building located at the North Industrial Area in Accra as structurally sound and safe for use.

According to a statement issued by the assembly and signed by its Public Relations Officer, Numo Blafo III, the news of cracks in some columns of the facility was without any merit.

It said the crack, which was portrayed in sections of the media two months ago as a disaster in waiting, had no adverse structural implication “since it occurred in the plaster board that was used to seal off the expansion joint.”

It, however, recommended in the statement that an even distribution of the loads on the floors of the building should be maintained and concentrated loads should be avoided.

On September 17, 2015, it was reported on JOY Fm, an Accra-based radio station, that there was a propagating crack in a series of columns of the Melcom Plus building at the North Industrial Area in Accra.

Subsequently, the Chief Executive Officer of the AMA, Mr Alfred Okoe Vanderpuije, and a technical team from the Metro Works Department visited the location and met with the management of the company to have first hand information on the situation.

After the visit, Mr Vanderpuije announced that in the interest of all parties, all necessary procedures that would ensure that the structural safety of the building was not compromised would be undertaken,

To that end, the AMA engaged the services of an independent Certified Engineer, Ing Frank Fiifi Yawson, to undertake a structural assessment of the building.

The Metropolitan Work’s Department also solicited expressions of interest from recognised engineering firms and after a series of meetings and an evaluation of responses received, it recommended that Messrs Structural Construction Services Limited be appointed to carry out the structural assessment of the affected building.