Building Collapse: Is FG afraid of quacks?

The Minister of Power, Works and Housing, Babatunde Raji Fasola says unless the federal government deliberately introduces sanction against unprofessional conduct in the built environment, incidences of building collapse would continue unabated. PATRICK ANDREW reports

As far as building collapse is concerned, the point that I would like to make is that the answer to stopping building collapse is increased professionalism on one hand and sanctions on the other hand,” Fashola said. He declared that without necessary empowerment to enforce existing laws against unethical conduct in the building profession, cases of building collapse with its fatal implications would remain invincible.

“But there must be a rigorous consciousness to ensure that any builder, any professional that is employed in the process, will not only lose his practice, if he is found to have acted improperly, he should be tried and if found guilty must also be punished. “Th ere must be consequences for this kind of lapses because if buildings that are 500 years old are standing in some other countries, why should 10-year-old buildings under construction be collapsing in our environment?”

In essence, legislation is inevitable to curtail cases of collapsed buildings and the fatal consequences therein. However, it seems the federal government is afraid to facilitate the enactment of appropriate laws to regulate the practice of building construction in the country and ensuring that such laws are enforceable. Many in the building profession bodies tend to believe that there seem to be some understanding between quacks in the building construction and the government such that the latter easily and readily turn a blind eye in the face repulsive cases of buildings collapse while the law that ought to have regulated the practice remain unattended to at the National Assembly, 11 years after it went through necessary processes.

Few incidences between May and June may suffi ce. For instance, last May, three persons were confi rmed dead when a building under construction collapsed in Lagos. Th e three-storey building at 6, Richard Abimbola Street, Ilasa area of Lagos, caved in while some workers were working on site. Th e collapsed building trapped several workers, while 19 seriously injured persons were rescued from the structure, according National Emergency Management Agency (NEMA) offi cials. On May 29, there was another housing collapse incident in Lagos where a threestory building located at Daddy Alhaja Street, Oke-Arin, Lagos Island caved in killing two persons and left scores trapped in the wreckage.

Last June, in yet another building collapse, three persons died when a fourstorey building under construction in Okeani, close to the Federal Polytechnic, Oko community in Anambra State. Like the previous cases of collapsed buildings, professionals in the built environment were unanimous on the main reason why many buildings in the country irrespective of location have collapsed prematurely: unprofessional and immoral quality of work. Also, they were in agreement that those behind the poor quality of work were quacks who disguised as qualifi ed professional persons in the building profession. Reacting to the harm caused by quacks in the built environment, the Registrar, Council of Registered Builders of Nigeria (CORBON), Dr Peter Kuroshi, said quacks do not only wreck havocs on buildings, roads and other constructions, but they ruin lives leading to voidable untold hardships for the families of the victims.

According to him, some innocent persons have met untimely death while a large number of persons have been maimed thereby forcing them to become dependent on the people they ordinarily would not have been a burden to. Accordingly, he said the council is committed to eradicating the menace of quackery and sharp practices in the building sector in order to curb building collapse that stressing the only way to go about the business of curbing quackery is the arrest and prosecution of such quacks in the profession.

“Quackery is a big problem that we have been trying as hard as we could to address. For instance if a builder, who is a trained professional but not registered and licensed by CORBON is involved in building production management, we consider such a person as a quack. “Quackery has been responsible for many of the substandard buildings you have seen. Quite number of buildings that had collapsed were works of quacks,” he said noting that unless the state prosecute quacks to serve as deterrent to die-hard others, the boom in unprofessional conduct in building construction will continue. Th e CORBON boss is convinced that quacks could be involved in the planning or design in a building but the area where quackery could be more prevalent was the production stage of a building project delivery. “In each building that you see standing, all the professions should be involved. “Some professionals are responsible for the design, some are responsible for the generation of cost implications, some provide planning information, some are strictly responsible for the marketing of completed product,” he said. “A builder is responsible for the production of the buildings but will rely on the input from designers like Architects (architectural drawings and specifi cations) and Engineers.

“But where adequately trained professionals are not involved whatever structure is built only to contribute to substandard building resulting to collapse building in the country.” Besides, laws to checkmate the activities of quacks in the profession, the Registrar said: Every professional, participant, contractor, manufacturers and suppliers involved in building delivery is supposed to be regulated strictly.

“Unless we are able to establish standards and sustain these standards in respect of resources that are used and personal that are involved in building production processes, we will continue to have challenges,” the minister said noting that unless the various professions within the building bodies collaborate it would rather diffi cult to contain quackery even if there are adequate and functional laws to prosecute persons fund of unethical conduct.

Similarly, former President of the Nigerian Institute of Building, Malam Bala Kao’je, usage of substandard materials, inappropriate quantity and quality of building materials, poor or wrong placement of enforcements in building construction and there is also the problem of cutting corners in construction stages by those who are involved in construction establishment, are some of the antics of quacks in the building profession. However, he, like others in the building profession bodies, said a major hindrance to the activities of quackery is the federal government’s lackadaisical attitude to the coming to life of the National Building Code. “Unfortunately, 11 years after, the National Building Code bill is still in the National Assembly.

The code contains all that we need to do in this country to buildings that can stand the test of time; in other words, the minimum standards that you can fi nd in most countries. Presently, I don’t know of any country that does not have minimum standard except Nigeria. “It is embarrassing that all our neighbouring countries like Niger Republic, Benin Republic, Togo, Ghana, even Chad have minimum standards that guide construction procedures. Lack of minimum standard is aff ecting the standard of construction and has led to many of the buildings collapsing since standards are not properly followed because people do not have fear of arrest and prosecution. Besides, since there is no law that forces them to adhere to standards, the proliferation of quacks is all over,” he said. According to Kao’je, who was a former Minister of Sports, the government (NASS and the executive) is largely responsible for the persistence of quackery in the building profession because of its failure to bring to life and make enforceable the law to regulate the construction of building everywhere in Nigeria. A builder, who was recently decorated by the CORBON, thinks there are forces within the government that are working against the passage into law National Building Code bill.

 

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