By NATARIO McKENZIE
Tribune Business Reporter
nmckenzie@tribunemedia.net
WORKS Minister Desmond Bannister said yesterday sufficient building inspectors must be hired to ensure all new buildings meet requisite standards, while lamenting that ‘no building code’ would have provided protection against ‘superstorm’ Hurricane Dorian.
Responding to Tribune Business inquiries, Mr Bannister noted the existing building code is designed to protect buildings when facing winds of up to 150mph.
“This was upgraded in 1997 from 120mph,” he said. “There are several challenges with respect to Dorian. First, this was a superstorm with gusts exceeding 200mph. I know of no building code that would have provided protection. Secondly, in any event, homes that would have been built prior to the revision would have been vulnerable to winds that exceeded 120mph.”
“The real challenge moving forward lies in building capacity in sufficient hiring of inspectors to ensure that all new buildings within the country meet the requisite standards.”
Concerns have been raised in the past over the proper policing and enforcement of building codes, particularly in the Family Islands.
Prime Minister Dr Hubert Minnis had called for a full review of the building code following the widespread destruction by Hurricane Irma in the southern Bahamas back in 2017.
Comments
SP 4 years, 7 months ago
Blah, blah, blah, blah!
Well_mudda_take_sic 4 years, 7 months ago
Since late 2017 Desmond Bannister has been on my list of the top three most useless cabinet ministers. He's about as incompetent as they come.
Craig 4 years, 7 months ago
This news is alarming. It follows logically from the good Minister admitting that additional building inspectors must be hired that there are too little currently hired to do the job, most likely far too little. It then follows easily that not all the required inspections are being conducted. If that is the case most likely incompetant and corrupt contractors are getting away with substantial short cuts and shoddy work. Considering the level of damage that happened to the structures in Abaco Freeport, couldn't the shoddy workmanship and short cuts as a result of lack of proper inspections on the part of the MOW, have contributed to the devistation being must worst than it may have been, or I dare say contributed to some of the fatalities. All one has to do is to look at the devistation in the Mud. Far too many of those dwellings were not fit for human habitation due to code violations, much less built to withstand hurricane conditions. In my mind the MOW should be held accountable in large part due to lack of sufficient inspectors being a contributing factor in the devistation.
Dawes 4 years, 7 months ago
But all this was known before the storm. Why does it take a storm for us to do anything. And by anything i mean set up a committee which will be paid handsomely for working out what to do, who will then unfortunately only give their advice two days before the next election, so the next Government in turn will have to set up their own committee etc etc.
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