The Speaker of the Bauchi State House of Assembly Abubakar Y Suleiman has said that the legislative arm will partner with Nigerian Institute of Building in order to address astronomical building collapse in the country
He made the Statement during the Builders’ Day celebration and Sensitization Programme organized by the Bauchi State Chapter of Nigerian Institute of Building which took place at Abubakar Tatari Ali Polytechnic Bauchi, on Thursday.
The Speaker who was the chairman of the occasion said the theme of this year’s Builders Day; Kick out building collapse, engage professionals, is timely and topical.
“This conference is excellent forum that will elicit new ideas and findings that will go along way in addressing series of building collapse.
“I want to inform you about the readiness of Bauchi State House Assembly to partner with you as we strive to end this tragedy.
“As representatives of the people, we are determined to introduce legislation that will ensure strict adherence to building codes by both public and private sectors in Bauchi State.”
Abubakar Y Suleiman however challenge the Institute and all professional builders in Bauchi State to come up with a proposed bill which he pledges to personally sponsor, with a view to have sustainable legislation curbing incidences of building collapse in the State with a hope that other part of the country will copy from Bauchi State.
He advised builders abide by ethics of their profession by exhibiting high sense of professionalism and strict adherence to building specifications.
In his welcome address, the Chairman Bauchi State Chapter of the Institute Bldr Mohammad Danlami Garba said the 13th day of March of every year has been set aside as the Builders’ Day to remember the five-storey building that collapsed in Lagos Island killing over 20 schools l children, and to look back and evaluate the happenings in the building production process and management in the country.
Presenting a paper titled ‘Kick Out Building Collapse; Engage Professional Builders’ the Managing Director and CEO Buildings Ltd Bldr. Habu Mamman attributed the incessant building collapse in the country to the absence of planning of towns and cities, environment abuse, use of nonprofessionals and quacks, use of untested products and materials, lack of maintenance culture among others.
He opined that to curb the incidence of building collapse, there is no substitute for the immediate unmitigated and committed drive to legally address the root cause, human error by implementation of the National Building Code 2006.
