The National Building Code Committee wishes to indicate that if a set of minimum standards is not established we cannot expect the status quo to change and will continue to be informed via the media of the huge sums of money spent on rework and substandard materials on public projects due to poor management and quality control.
The Ministry of Housing and Urban Development received a large share of the budget and our committee looks forward to receiving news of the availability of funds and plans for the disbursement of funds for the development of a National Building Code from the Minister of Housing and Urban Development. I would like to urge the Minister to ensure that all people engaged in the construction of HDC housing units inclusive of managers and contractors have an appreciation for building codes and that the HDC commit towards the delivery of quality homes at affordable prices to its clients.
I wish to note that middle to lower income people who seek public housing have little or no resources to pay for repairs due to shoddy work done on HDC houses and every effort should be made to ensure that stringent quality control measures is effected from the design to completion.
We must treat the protection, safety, health and welfare of our citizens as a matter of priority and we note that the members of the National Building Code Committee stand committed to the delivery of a set of minimum standards via a building code within six months of the provision of funds.
Shyankaran Lalla,
via e-mail