By Praise Chinecherem
The Chairman, Anambra State Physical Planning Board (ANSPPB), Barr Chike Maduekwe has urged residents of the State to report any staff of the agency involved in any form of misconduct for appropriate sanctions.
He also cautioned those accusing the staff of financial inducement but unwilling to expose them to desist from tarnishing the image of the agency.
Maduekwe stated this while receiving from the State Materials Testing Laboratory report on structural integrity tests it carried out on buildings sealed by government at the Ochanja Central Market, Onitsha.
He said he would not tolerate any form of inducement to compromise his responsibility in view of its sensibility, saying those who do that were only attracting God’s wrath.
He said, “They say some of our staff collect money, I will not say it’s untrue. But when you ask them to produce those demanding money from them, they decline, saying they don’t want to sack anyone. I wonder how we can discipline such persons.
“Anyone that says any of our staff demanded money from him, please report such persons to me with details, my phone number is readily available.
“I can’t afford to tolerate any form of inducement to compromise my job because the work we do is a sensitive one, if you don’t do it well, even God will punish you because it has to do with lives.
“The same people that refuse to do the right thing are those who induce my staff. Anyone that comes and takes money from you in lieu of building permit is deceiving you.
Maduekwe blamed structural defects of buildings to engagement of quacks who compromise standards, urging residents to insist on qualified professionals while carrying out their structures.
“The problem is that most times we engage quacks and non-professionals to work for us. But when you engage qualified engineers the first place they’ll direct you is our office because the law requires that you get an approval of whatever you’re doing.
“If you go for enforcement people tag you as being wicked, but you’re protecting people lives. For example, if you build under high tension, that’s suicidal. Please help us and educate your members.”
