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PM Pinda right on construction but…
2008-08-05 09:39:43
By Editor
Dar es Salaam on Saturday hosted a function related to a memorable development in Tanzania`s construction industry at which two national leaders made well-timed statements of immense consequence.
The occasion was the laying of the foundation stone for a planned 25-storey complex and the remarks came from Prime Minister Mizengo Pinda and Lands, Housing and Human Settlements Development minister John Chiligati.
The prime minister expressed the government\'s concern over the failure or refusal by building companies to adhere to the codes of conduct and ethical practice that go into making what they do qualify as a profession.
By extension, he was saddened seeing national constructors` organisations fail to put their heads together and jointly struggle to arrest the mushrooming of shoddy buildings and other structures whose shoddiness has made some crumble at various stages of construction or shortly after they are occupied.
It thus came as timely consolation hearing him declare on Saturday that the government is determined to establish a competent body to oversee all activities carried out by construction institutions in the country.
We feel obliged to subscribe to the government`s misgivings because, as noted by the prime minister, the collapse of substandard buildings indeed leads to massive losses of life and limb, property and capital and tarnishes the image of the country\'s construction industry.
We are glad that he has gone on to challenge all institutions under whose professional stewardship building contractors and other construction experts fall to take stern measures against any of their corporate and individual members notorious for flouting the laws, regulations, rules, principles or codes of conduct guiding their activities and operations.
It is understood that the most prominent of these bodies include the Architects and Quantity Surveyors Registration Board, Engineers Registration Board, Contractors Registration Board, and Public Procurement Regulatory Authority.
On many previous occasions when grisly surface, marine, air and other accidents have occurred, there have been appeals that the authorities concerned take stern deterrent measures against the culprits but it is usually business as usual only days later.
One reason for the swift reversal to a semblance of normalcy is often that the law books do not provide for action as stringent as commonly recommended. One wonders whether there has been any change in the situation since.
But Saturday`s function will also be remembered with a bit of attachment in that minister Chiligati used it to reveal plans to set up five satellite towns in the Dar es Salaam hinterland.
Should the dream come true, there will one day be Luguruni, Kimbiji, Kongowe, Mji Mwema and Pugu Kajiungeni towns and - believe it or not - all will be fully equipped with things like shopping malls, banks, playgrounds and markets.
Better and safer construction is something we all naturally cherish and clamour for - just as we would treasure and applaud better planned and therefore more accessible and navigable cities, municipalities, towns and villages.
However, actually having them promises to be harder than we may ever wish it were. It is a challenge we must meet.
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