Fashola advises professionals on building collapse

9japroperty — Tue, 01 Nov 2016 07:32:43 +0000

The Minister of Power, Works and Housing, Mr. Babtunde Fashola, has urged operators in the built environment to improve their skills in order to reduce the frequency of building collapse being recorded across the country.

Fashola, who spoke at the 29th annual conference of the Nigerian Institution of Structural Engineers in Abuja, also outlined some of the major causes of building collapse based on studies conducted by his ministry.

In his keynote address, the minister stressed that residential and commercial structures should be designed and constructed in a manner that would ensure structural stability, adding that Nigeria had recorded a fair share of collapse of engineering structures, especially buildings.

Fashola, who was represented by the Director of Engineering Services in the ministry, Mrs. Esther Okougha, said, “The issue of building collapse is of great concern to the Ministry of Power, Works and Housing, because lives, properties and investments are lost and victims suffer permanent disabilities.

“One may ask why we have frequent building collapse in Nigeria. Some of the causes include lack of adequate specification, inadequate design, absence of or inadequate supervision by relevant agencies and experts, poor workmanship, use of fake and substandard building materials, poor and incorrect method of construction, and aging buildings.

“Although in Nigeria we don’t usually believe that a building can age, but truly it can age. Other causes include the use of unqualified contractors, non-adherence to building regulations and bye-laws, corruption and force majeure.”

The minister added that reliable statistics had shown that building collapse in Nigeria dated back to 1985 and had remained a challenge across the country.

“Therefore, the theme for this year’s conference, ‘Issues on Failure of Engineering Structures in Nigeria’, is not out of point,” he observed.

He noted that it was common knowledge that engineering structures were designed and constructed for specific purposes and stressed that such structures must be safe.

“History has shown that the effect of failure is very devastating. Therefore, a high level of skilled professionalism is needed to address the possible causes of structural failures, which may be at the stage of the design, construction or supervision,” Fashola said.

Earlier in his welcome address, the President, NIStructE, Mr. Oreoluwa Fadayomi, said the theme for the conference was chosen in order to discuss issues relating to the failure of engineering structures like buildings, roads, bridges, drains, culverts and dams.

PUNCH.

The post Fashola advises professionals on building collapse appeared first on 9japroperty.

Fashola raises panel to restructure FHA

9japroperty — Wed, 12 Oct 2016 11:53:16 +0000

Power, Works and Housing Minister Mr. Babatunde Fashola has set up an ad-hoc committee to review the re-structuring and commercialisation of the Federal Housing Authority (FHA).

Fashola urged the committee to review the FHA Restructuring and Commercialisation/Housing Sector implementation Framework presented to him at a meeting with the Bureau of Public Enterprises (BPE).

BPE’s Director of National Facilities and Agricultural Resources Mr. Yunana Jackdell Malo, in the letter convening the committee meeting, said the panel would entertain concerns, issues and recommendations which might form the basis of a revised implementation framework for FHA’s restructuring and commercialisation.

A document obtained by The Nation listed the committee’s terms of reference to include: distilling the new reform vision for the housing sector as articulated by the Minister; review the National Council on Privatisation (NCP) approved implementation framework to better align it with the minister’s policy direction and objectives for the housing sector; review aspects of the various work streams in the implementation framework to ensure that they are fit for purpose and revisit key elements of the restructuring and commercialisation strategy, and to make recommendations on how they could be better implemented, particularly with regards to new housing policy and skills mix, property audit and the privatisation of FHA Mortgage Bank.

Others include reviewing the possibility of implementing the NCP approved strategy without necessarily repealing the FHA Act and be guided by legal advice in that regard; review the relevant aspects of the on-going housing sector reforms and make necessary recommendations, particularly with respect to the setting up of a regulatory regime and how FHA can play an effective role in a regulated and liberalised housing sector.

The Permanent Secretary, Federal Ministry of Power, Works and Housing, Abu Gusau Magaji, has urged FHA workers not to entertain fears of losing their jobs.

Speaking at a meeting with the Authority’s management, he explained that rather than job losses, the planned process would throw up more vacancies through the expected expansion of the Authority’s capacity to become an efficient, modern and profitable venture.

Magaji said the need for a review of the previous reform document generated by the BPE arose because it had become necessary to align it with the vision and policies of the President Muhammadu Buhari-led administration for the sector.

He said the exercise would be conducted on the basis of existing presidential approval, adding that both the Ministry and the Authority were being accommodated in the development of work streams that would lead to the emergence of a new FHA.

Members of the committee are Yunana J. Malo – Sector Director/Co-ordinator (BPE); M. L. Halilu; A. Koko, and P. O Egbodo, all representing the Ministry of Power, Works and Housing. The FHA is represented by Ayuba Aliyu, Hajara Kadiri, and Umar S. Gonto. Sanusi Abdu-Ali, Nurain Hassan Ibrahim, Pene Samaki, and Guful John Mankilik, are representatives of the BPE. Abba Sani Dauda, also from the BPE, will serve as Secretary.

The post Fashola raises panel to restructure FHA appeared first on 9japroperty.

Fashola – 9japroperty

Fashola advises professionals on building collapse

Fashola raises panel to restructure FHA