The Council for the Regulation of Engineering in Nigeria, COREN, yesterday proposed death penalty for owners and quacks involved in the construction of any collapsed building in the country.
The council also called for conduct of quality assurance of all cement manufacturing companies nationwide to stem the increasing rate of building collapse.
COREN made the call before the House of Representatives ad hoc committee on the investigation of the composition and pigmentation of cement in the country to stem the serial incidents of collapse buildings.
COREN President, Ali Kasim, called for additional statutory powers that would enable the council to prosecute owners and quacks involved in the erection of structures that collapse.
Kasim sought for inclusion of incidents of collapse building as criminal acts and stressed the need for imposition of stiffer penalties for those who engaged quacks for construction of any collapsed building.
The president, however, noted that most of the owners of collapsed buildings are “very strong that government cannot bring them to book.”
He said that necessary control measures had been provided to ensure that all professionals involved in the construction of any house endorsed their stamps on relevant drawings.
Kasim, who lamented the negative impression created at the international scene by the recurring cases of collapse buildings, noted that the council on regular basis conducted third-party evaluation of building construction.
Declaring the public hearing open, the Speaker, Aminu Tambuwal, stressed the need for the country to sustain the tempo of development achieved so far by the present administration, including the rebasing of the GDP that placed Nigeria as the leading economy in Africa.
“Nigeria has in the last few years been investing huge resources in infrastructure, from roads, bridges and aviation terminals, to railway rehabilitation and sundry projects.
“The country has also woken up to the need of promoting agricultural development. In sustaining this tempo of development, the use of cement and other construction materials cannot be overemphasised, especially because virtually all these projects use the product in one form or the other,” he said.
Tambuwal also commended the cement manufacturers association in its bid to make Nigeria self-sufficient in cement production, reduce capital flight and employment generation for the teeming unemployed youths.
The Speaker said: “It is sad that Nigeria, with such a well-trained manpower in engineering and other related professionals, has continued to witness the collapse of buildings across the country. This is no longer acceptable.
“While countries like Singapore and Malaysia, whose level of development was at par with that of Nigeria in the 70s have made progress in developing a robust indigenous capacity in infrastructure development, erecting skyscrapers that have stood the test of time, we continue to build one-storey buildings that collapse shortly after they were completed.”
President, Nigerian Institute of Building, Bala Kaoje, recommended that “cement bags should contain details stating whether it is cement class 1 or class 2 and also the strength class, whether 32.5 or 42.5 (MPa). Where special cement needs to be used, additional details should be provided.”
Kaoje, who declared zero tolerance for low quality building materials, stressed the need for inter-agency cooperation between the Standard Organisation of Nigeria, SON, and the National Agency for Food and Drug Administration and Control, NAFDAC, to subject all products under the purview of the two regulatory agencies bore national certifications of quality.
He also called for training and re-training of block makers and cement users as being done by some cement manufacturers.
Chairman of the ad hoc committee, Hon. Yakubu Dogara, stressed the need for government agencies to ensure strict enforcement of the laws passed by the National Assembly for the betterment of Nigerians.
Dogara, who expressed regrets over the spate of building collapse across the country, noted that the serial incidents had become a source of anxiety in the society of recent and has been brought to the front burners of national discourse.
He said: “From 1974 to 2010, it is estimated that building collapse claimed about 297 lives (where data is available). In Lagos alone, from 2000 to 2010 about 151 lives were lost due to this menace.
“These numbers do not take into account the injured as well as many cases of varying degrees of permanent disabilities. Material losses if properly quantified will be in billions of naira.
“It is regrettable that as this menace ravages our people and environment, the relevant stakeholders and regulators have failed to summon the necessary will to end it at once. As usual, we are engaged in the passing buck and avoiding responsibility. This is most unacceptable in the context of the Nigeria of our dreams.”
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