The Nation Newspaper

Category: Building & Properties

  • Rely on construction sector for economic prosperity, Fed Govt told

    Quantity surveyors have asked the Federal Government to exploit the construction industry in order to make a meaningful impact in the administration of the country.

    They argue that the construction industry plays a vital role in the economy, and its activities are major drivers of national socio-economic development goals of providing shelter, infrastructure and employment.

    AQt a two-day workshop organised by the Nigerian Institution of Quantity Surveyors (NIQS), on the theme: “Project Monitoring and Reporting Services for Financial Institutions/Third Party Funded or Sponsored Project Developments,” in Abuja, NIQS President Obafemi Onashile insisted that the Federal Government’s most pressing and major task was to create new leadership initiatives for a fast double-digit growth of the economy.

    He observed that the construction industry was the second industry (after the agricultural industry) with potential for the greatest impact on the economy of many nations.

    Onashile noted that, in other climes, the construction industry plays a pivotal role in infrastructure delivery, massive employment (especially the youth), domestic manufacturing through many cottage industries for producing glass, ceramics, iron billets and rods, aluminium sheets and profiles, paints, plywoods and timber profiles that can be consumed locally or exported.

    “With a booming construction industry, other construction resources such as construction plants and the vehicle will become locally assembled/made and thereby oiling the national economy for exponential performance,” he said.

    He said policies and business plans must be all-encompassing, involving politicians, civil servants, researchers in the academia, private sector drivers (chambers of commerce, industries, professional institutions and trade unions) and the end-users represented by non-governmental organisations (NGOs) and civil societies.

    According to him, the practice of the past of relying on international management consultants and multilateral funding bodies such the world bank, to set up government policies for Nigeria and expect the MDA’S to simply drive such “externally crafted” policies after a conducted two- day management retreat has failed us woefully due to the

    disconnect between the policy crafters and the expected drivers’ as the drivers had no input in the policies.

    To achieve a booming construction industry, the quantity surveyors advised the government to implement a social housing programme, which will provide homes for the vulnerable civil service employees, including the men and women in uniformed services.

    “Apart from acting as a responsive employer looking after the well-being of its employees, this recommended action would also help curb corruption tendencies in government. A combination of different ways both through fiscal and monetary policies (but more of fiscal policies) can be utilized to accomplish this,” Onoshile said.

    The institute also called for the re-vitalisation and re-orientation of the Federal Housing Authority (FHA) so that it will be private sector driven rather than typical civil service leadership to tackle the issue of urbanization.

    He said: “Brand new cities, as well as regeneration of some existing and mature cities, must be immediately planned and implemented by the Federal Government to consciously direct the course of growth of the environment and the standard of living of the citizens.  Actions to improve transportation should be another priority. A combined rail and road infrastructure development focus is vital for long-term sustainable development.”

    NIQS President further called for an urgent overhaul of the Infrastructure Concession Regulatory Commission (ICRC) to make it more private sector- driven and ensure commercial-like transactions.

    “There is the need to strengthen the PPP Schemes by fine-tuning the laws (the Act) to remove the loopholes that the private sector has been exploiting and frustrating the policy.

    The PPP market needs to be further developed re-orientated and expanded to attract a greater number and serious-minded investors both foreign and domestic.

    On the workshop, he stated that NIQS has part of its focus on promoting reforms has therefore deemed it necessary to prepare and equip its members for that needed special expertise of protecting development investments such as project monitoring that will ensure the successful and enviable growth of the construction industry that is very much desired.

    His words: “Project monitoring service is recommended for project funders undertaking any sizeable project Investment; however, it is important for projects with a value over $3 million and absolutely essential for loan funded or grant-funded, public-funded projects of value in excess of $30million.

    “Whilst these services are World Bank recognized and recommended. The CBN adopted and directed commercial banks to utilize independent project monitoring consultants different from internal bank staff when undertaking project-financing transactions in order to ensure the safety of  not only the bank  but customer  fund.”

    He listed benefits of project monitoring services to include checkmating high cost of development projects, eliminating poorly designed projects that may threaten the investment, reducing spate of abandoned projects, ensuring projects are fit for purpose and building professionals are utilised in construction and are alive to their duties by being fairly remunerated. “Project monitoring seeks to avoid acrimonious and adversarial relationships between project designers and contractors and therefore prevent collusion and corruption,” he added.

  • Firm, agency partner to deepen affordable housing

    Nigeria Mortgage Refinance Company Plc (NMRC) and a German agency, Deutsche Gesellschaft für Internationale Zusammenarbeit (GIZ) have signed an agreement to deepen affordable housing.

    The deal was signed on the sidelines of the just-concluded 13th International Housing Show in Abuja.

    NMRC Managing Director Kehinde Ogundimu noted that the  collaboration would be focused on  access finance  housing.

    GIZ’s Cluster Coordinator for Sustainable economic Development, Hans Ludwig Bruns noted that GIZ and NMRC would leverage their synergies for the benefit  in the GIZ-SEDIN focal states: Ogun, Plateau and Niger.

    The collaboration would be done through the World Bank and international cooperation institutions.

    The engagement also falls under the primary mandate of the NMRC to address the challenges in financial innovations required to develop affordable housing from a private sector perspective by acting as a conduit between the capital markets and housing markets.

    Meanwhile, Chief Executive Officer, West African Ceramics Limited (WACL), Mr Bhaskar Rao, has said developing the rural areas will resolve the housing, insecurity and unemployment crisis in the country.

    He made this known during the Nigeria Housing Awards at the 13th Abuja International Housing Show, where he was recognised for his company’s initiatives in promoting affordable housing through the use of local building materials.

    According to him, leaving the rural areas underdeveloped will continue to encourage migration, which will put pressure on urban centres.

    “If the rural areas are left undeveloped, it will have consequential impact on managing the cities because there would be continuous influx and migration of people from rural areas to the cities which would become overbearing on the existing infrastructures, resulting in pollution, unemployment, and insecurity,” he said.

    Rao, however, acknowledged that the government alone could not solve the housing and unemployment problems of the country and called for the enabling environment that would promote entrepreneurship and encourage the Small and Medium Scale Enterprises (SMEs) to thrive.

    According to a statement by WACL, the award was in recognition of his leadership in the tile manufacturing, contribution to housing and support for affordable housing.

    Nigerian Institute of Building President Mr Kenneth Nduka, who presented the award, praised Rao. He said: ‘’I have  interacted with him and the company he manages which have earned our endorsement.’’

  • Guild to residents: report substandard construction

    The President, Building Collapse Prevention Guild (BCPG), Mr Akinola George, has appealed to Lagos residents to report substandard building construction to regulatory agencies.

    George said such report should be made to the Lagos State Building Control Agency (LASBCA).

    He said the report could also be made to the BCPG, saying that the guild was collaborating with LASBCA to find lasting solutions to construction failures.

    In an interview, he said residents should not ignore substandard construction or misconducts  in their neighbourhoods.

    “If you suspect there is an issue in a building, which you can’t see, contact an expert to come around to inspect the property. The motive is to avert building collapse, save lives and the environment. Residents have vital roles to play in curbing building collapse; they are in a better position to detect early illegal and substandard constructions,” he said.

    Read Also: Breaking: Two-storey building partially collapses in Gbagada

    He added that it was sad that some residents failed to report illegal or substandard construction which they noticed.

    George said such an attitude was not in the interest of the society.  He claimed that many developers had decided to construct buildings at night, weekends and public holidays when regulatory authorities would not be watching.

    He added that unauthorised and hasty construction could cause construction failure.

    He said: “LASBCA and other building regulatory authorities alone cannot properly monitor to detect when buildings are defective or when illegal constructions are going on without the support of residents.

    “It is the residents that are in a better position to detect substandard construction within their areas, irrespective of the time they are carried out. A substandard building is not just a house that is old or outdated. It is a building that constitutes a high risk to the health and physical well-being of its occupants, neighbours and visitors.”

  • FMBN to assist NITDA workers own houses

    Federal Mortgage Bank of Nigeria (FMBN) has expressed its willingness to assist the National Information Technology Development Agency (NITDA) workers to own houses in Abuja and environs.

    FMBN Managing Director/Chief Executive Officer (MD/CEO) Ahmed Dangiwa gave the assurance when  NITDA Director-General (DG), Isa Ali Ibrahim Pantami, and some officers of the agency paid a courtesy call on the bank in Abuja.

    This was in response to a request by the NITDA chief on the FMBN to support the agency’s staff members  to get housing loans.

    He said part of the bank’s focus was to strengthen  the partnership with its stakeholders.

    He said the bank deals many  stakeholders, such as the Nigeria Labour Congress (NLC), Trade Union Congress (TUC) and Nigeria Employers Consultative Association (NECA) to deliver over 100 houses in every state.

    He, therefore, urged NITDA to, also, avail itself of the bank’s mortgage products.

    “We will designate a desk officer who will liaise with your organisation to further guide you on how to access these products and services,” Dangiwa said.

    He expressed FMBN’s gratitude to the agency for  granting the bank certification for the procurement and deployment of its core banking application, saying it would consolidate the bank’s effort in its automation.

    Earlier, Pantami said the agency’s mission to the bank was to improve relationship between the two institutions.

    He said: “I know if you want your staff to do well, you have to take care of them.”

    Pantami said NITDA was established to implement the national IT policy and serve as a clearing house for all government institutions, set up a committee to look into how its staff could get affordable accommodation in Abuja.

    He explained that housing was one of the main challenges of staff members of the agency, which he wanted FMBN to help solve.

  • ESVARBON seeks patronage, proper remuneration of valuers

    To ensure proper implementation and compliance with the recently-launched National valuations standards, also called Green Book, the Estate Surveyors and Valuers Registration Board of Nigeria (ESVARBON) has rolled out a comprehensive capacity building programme for stakeholders, estate surveying and valuation practitioners.

    The two-day event, held in Lagos, received full complements of financial institutions, credit officers, regulatory agencies, valuation teachers and registered estate surveyors and valuers.

    Chairman of ESVARBON, Sir Nweke Umezurike said the training was geared towards bringing the relevant stakeholders on the imports of the valuation standards in their works. It is also aimed at making the stakeholders see the efforts of the board in improving the valuation practice.While urging the clients to reciprocate by paying what is fair to the practitioners, Umezurike wants the clients to patronise registered valuers rather than their friends and relatives in order to reduce the frequency of valuation reviews.

    He stressed that the key professional document was produced by ESVARBON last year in fulfillment of its obligations under the enabling Act to ensure greater transparency and responsibility in valuation practice in Nigeria.

  • Lagos begins renewal of parks

    The Lagos State Parks and Gardens Agency (LASPARK) has started the regeneration of degraded areas across the state in line with Governor Babajide Sanwo-Olu’s Executive Order.

    The agency said the governor had ordered the agency and others to rid the highways of environmental nuisance.

    In a statement, LASPARK General Manager Mrs Bilikiss Adebiyi-Abiola, said the intervention would complement the ongoing clean-up on major roads  by other agencies.

    “The reclamation operation is to salvage the aesthetic environment of strategic areas in the state that have been defiled by chaotic activities in recent years. This is also in line with the ‘THEMES Agenda’ of promoting healthy living, sustainable environment and safety of lives and property in any part of the state,” she said.

    Mrs Adebiyi-Abiola said the government planned to uplift the face of the state to open it up for more decent commercial and economic ventures to complement its greening project and further create an ambience befitting a 21st century city.

    According to her, the agency is clearing planting trees on the Lagos-Badagry Expressway from Eric Moore to Trade Fair.

    She said in line with the LASPARK’s mandate, all roads’ setbacks, road embankments, loops, medians and open spaces across the state would be aggressively sanitised and adorned with trees and beautiful flowers to ensuring a greener and healthier environment.

    The GM acknowledged that making the environment clean and habitable for everyone would enhance socio-economic activities, and implored residents to conduct themselves in a way that would help preserve the environment.

    The government is poised more than ever to prosecute anyone or group of persons undermining its efforts towards strengthening the greening culture across the state,” he said

  • Senate pledges speedy passage of SURCON Act Amendment Bill

    The Senate has promised to work towards a speedy passage of the bill seeking amendments to the Surveyors Council of Nigeria Act No. S18 LFN 2004.

    President of the Senate, Senator Ahmed Lawan, disclosed this while playing host to a delegation from SURCON, led by its Chairman, Kasim Olufemi, alongside the Registrar, Kabir Mansur.

    Lawan was quoted in a statement from the council as saying: “We are going to ensure that we make the necessary efforts for the bill to see the light of day this time round.

    “You can be rest assured that you have the support of the Senate. I will personally push to see that it is signed. We will ensure that the bill gets a very expeditious consideration.”

    The SURCON chairman said they were at the Senate to reflect on their performances and explore new areas of collaboration with a view to fast-tracking Nigeria’s economic growth and national development.

    Olufemi urged the National Assembly to support increased budgetary allocation as a form of capital investment in survey and geo-infomatics.

    This, he said, would enable SURCON meet its mandate of surveying and mapping at full capacity so that Nigeria would attain enviable status in the sector like other countries.

    Olufemi lamented what he described as dismal number of surveyors in relation to the vast land Nigeria has.

    He stated that this was due to poor mapping and its attendant consequences of boundary disputes, insecurity, among others.

    The SURCON boss urged the Senate and other stakeholders to provide legislative framework that would facilitate an increase in the number of surveyors, their training and establishment of council offices in each state of the federation.

  • Lagos mulls facility managers’ engagement

    To promote the wellbeing of occupiers of government-owned housing estates, the Lagos State Government is to engage facility managers for the maintenance of the estates.

    Speaking at a meeting with the representatives of the estates, the Permanent Secretary, Ministry of Housing, Wasiu Akewusola, said “Lagos State Government was committed to promoting a conducive, decent and healthy environment in the estates, hence, the policy of appointment of  facility managers will be fully implemented by the state.”

    In a statement by the Public Relations Officer of ministry, Adeola Salako, tAkewusola said the facility managers will arrange for security personnel, refuse disposal, lighting of street lights and cleaning and sanitation of jointly owned facilities and liaisqase regularly with the government on the  state of the facilities.

    Akewusola  said: “Facility management is critical in ensuring that the infrastructural facilities in the estates work perfectly and constantly; and that  information that is required for prompt intervention is promptly received by government.”

    He said the engagement of facility managers does not erode the powers  of the  executives of the residents associations but rather complement their efforts in promoting the  interests of their members.

    He said: ” Service level agreements based on the services to be provided will be  prepared by the representatives of the housing estates.

    ‘’This policy was laid down several years ago was initiated to curb the culture of neglect of common facilities and  reduce rate of depreciation of  many of the government owned housing estates” she said.

    Responding, the representatives of the housing estates  requested for a fair  consideration of their rights and privileges  in the  choice of facility managers,  sought for  prompt governmental interventions in providing solutions to their infrastructural challenges while plegding to support the state in ensuring that the government owned estates are functional and habitable.

  • How to stop building collapse, by ex-CBN Deputy Governor

    Former Central Bank of Nigeria Deputy Governor, Mr Obadiah Mailafia has called for the adoption of an industry standard in the built environment  sector to address incessant building collapse in the country.

    Mailafia stated this in Abuja during the 13th Abuja International Housing Show award with the theme: Driving Sustainable Housing Finance Models in the midst of Global Uncertainty, which ended yesterday.

    He said the country had made  progress in the building sector but needed to do more to prevent building collapse.

    Mailafia said industry standards are a set of criteria within an industry relating to the standard functioning and carrying out of operations in their respective fields of production.

    He said it was high time the country began the building of a Nigerian ideal home that reflects its culture and identify.

    Mailafia urged the Federal Government to fashion out strategies that would ensure that every home has a solar system. He added that if solar was made available in every home  problems, such as joblessness and lack of electricity, would be solved.

    Former Minister of State, Health, Gabriel Aduku called on Nigerians to have a change of attitude to move the country forward and achieve better things.

    Aduku said that if things were done as expected, the country would be exporting artisans with the attendant effect of creating jobs.

    On transportation, he advised that River Niger should be utilised to its full potential to improve the transportation system.

    Coordinator of the show Festus Adebayo said the government had shown interest in improving the housing sector through various policies and programmes.

    Adebayo said it was time for action, adding that “we have been talking, doing lots of advocacies so we need action now”.

    He advised the incoming Minister of Housing to focus more on formation of policies rather than building houses.

    “The new Minister needs to work with private sector in providing houses, liaise with state governors in providing access to land for private developers and getting the House of Assembly to pass bills relating to housing,” he said.

    Adebayo said all the resolutions reached at the three-day show would be forwarded to the government for consideration and possible implementation.

  • Experts: Nigeria yet to explore forest reserve potential

    Experts in the construction industry have said the country is yet to tap the potential of its forests.

    According to them, Nigeria with its massive forest resources has barely scratched the surface on the potential of the forest as veritable sources of national revenue.

    Based on this, top professionals in the industry are putting together a wood expo to find ways of harnessing the potential of the forests.

    The maiden Wood Expo Nigeria,  with the theme, “Forest to wealth” will to hold in Abuja, in October.

    “Wood Expo Nigeria is expected to create awareness and promote the sustainable use of wood and wood products, bringing values to wood specialists, wood manufacturers, wood equipment/machinery fabricators, and professionals by providing a platform to access quality trade and professionals resources as a way of attracting required investment to the sector especially to reforestation and economic management of forests,” the organisers said.

    A statement signed by the adviser to the organisers, Seni Bello, explained that the Wood Expo Nigeria would enable the country to qualify for certification as a timber exporting nation, joining the league of sustainable forest nation and also encourage national tree planting project and campaign which could trigger the creation of three million productive economic plantations.

    The statement read in part, “This is quite in line with the government’s agenda on National Economic Recovery Growth Plan to diversify the economy resulting in the development of various sectors, the wood sector inclusive by exploring wood potential in the country.

    “The Raw Materials Research and Development Council (RMRDC) is actively involved in the Expo to give its support and endorsement. This specialised fair is expected to be a convergence point for suppliers, manufacturers, and machinery companies to showcase their products, innovative technologies, production scenarios and large scale machinery to key players in the wood and wood working machinery in Africa and sub -Saharan region.

    ”It added that scientists and construction professionals would also be available to highlight the various academic aspects of the wood value chain.