B.C.C.I. holds building code workshop
With the near miss by Hurricane Mitch and plans for satellite towns in the works, the Belize Chamber of Commerce and the Ministry of Housing feel the establishment of comprehensive building codes is long overdue. Today the Chamber and the Organization of American States sponsored a workshop on modernizing and enforcing these codes. OAS consultant Alwyn Wason says it is not enough to develop building codes, the enforcement component is critical. Minister of Housing Dickie Bradley agrees and says there has been little evolution in the building codes or their enforcement in almost 40 years.
Alwyn Wason, OAS Consultant
“The enforcement of these laws will depend to a large extent on the staffing of the relevant institutions charged with this task. Also it seems to me to be a lack of clear definition in the existing laws and the authority of the enforcers to act effectively when lives and important buildings and government buildings are being constructed. In most cases the concerns of the enforcers have to do with the layout of the building and the locks rather than the structural designs of the buildings. Obviously it requires trained and experienced staff or perhaps a different mechanism for checking and reviewing plans and construction.”
Dickie Bradley, Minister of Housing
“Last October when Hurricane Mitch gave us that scare it showed that in fact from 1961 to 1998 we had hardly done anything to prepare ourselves for the reality that we do live in a hurricane zone. Hence another reason why we must have a modern building code and ensure that there is enforcement to prevent the loss of property and possibly the loss of life. As politicians we get calls from people all the time complaining that someone is building over their yards, building over the street, building haphazardly, building dangerously. In the past people tended to greatly disregard the codes with impunity. There is clearly a need to educate our people in this regard and strengthen enforcement aspects and penalties for violating the building codes. I am confident that the Chamber of Commerce can play a positive role in this respect. For its part the Housing Department must ensure that there is proper policing even if the existing building construction holds and that the violators answer to the law.”
Today’s workshop included sessions on existing legislation, current construction controls, land use and planning, the Caribbean Uniform Building Code and appropriate building standards for Belize.
