Abia government to set up material testing lab and enforcement towards collapses building

The Abia State Executive Council has approved the setting up of a standard material testing laboratory in the state to ensure quality building and road construction standards.
The Commissioner for Information and Culture, Okey Kanu disclosed this while briefing journalists at the Government House, Umuahia on the outcome of the week’s Executive Council meeting presided by Governor Alex Otti.
He said the laboratory became necessary to tackle the incessant collapse of buildings in Nigeria, which had also been recording human and material losses.
Also, all illegal gates in the streets of Umuahia are to be removed by the Abia State government.
Throwing more light on the Standard Materials Testing Laboratory, General Manager, Umuahia Capital Development Authority, Kingsley Agomuo explained that the Labs ensure that every housing, road construction and bridges in the state, meets the required standards, saying that it would be difficult for builders to get approval for their jobs unless they are subjected their materials for test in the laboratory.
According to him, there are many substandard building materials in the market being used for housing, roads and bridges but the laboratory would also be established in other parts of the state to handle soil tests, reinforcement of rods, aggregate materials, and asphalt.