The Tribune

By NATARIO McKENZIE

Tribune Business Reporter

nmckenzie@tribunemedia.net

The Bahamian Contractors Association’s (BCA) president yesterday said ‘no build’ zones are not required, but better Code enforcement is.

Leonard Sands told Tribune Business that a more “vigorous” enforcement of this nation’s building codes, especially in the Family Islands, was essential in the aftermath of Hurricane Irma.

However, he rejected the Prime Minister’s suggestion that development along Bahamian coastlines be automatically prohibited. “There is no reason structurally, aesthetically or architecturally to run away from the coastline,” Mr Sands argued.

“You simply have to build a structure that can withstand the elements that affect the coastal region. The Bahamas is no different from other Caribbean islands, where persons with the means build on the coast. You have to know how to build along the coastline.”

Mr Sands added: “California has to deal with earthquakes, but people still live there. Its the place where world markets come to do business. The high-rise structures are designed to be impervious to earthquakes. Scientists and engineers do that.

“We need coastal engineers to assist architects further, and educate clients to build houses that will withstand conditions on the coastline. It’s a design solution; nothing else.”

Dr Hubert Minnis, while addressing the Inter-American Development Bank’s (IDB) Caribbean Coastal Resilience forum this week, said the Government will need to strengthen Town Planning regulations, which may include enforcing ‘no-build’ zones.

Dr Minnis said the Bahamas was committed to fully implementing technologies to improve the quality of planning for coastal zones. He added: “The impact of the latest three hurricanes on our islands demonstrates this need for coastal planning.

“We will need to strengthen our regulations around Town Planning and zoning. This may include identifying and enforcing no-build zones within the islands of the Bahamas.

“We are going to have to deal with the issues around land tenure and land administration as we think about better zoning and the provision of new housing projects built for disaster resilience. We know that significant work has already been completed on this issue through the IDB’s Land Use Planning and Administration Project (LUPAP),” the Prime Minister continued.

“We must now revive that work for implementation. Further, we must encourage and foster innovation in our architecture and engineering so that we can design and build infrastructure that is more resilient and sustainable.”

Mr Sands yesterday said that while the Bahamas’ building code was robust, enforcement - particularly in the Family Islands - often presented a challenge.

“It is a known fact that we have a centralised government,” he said. “The unfortunate thing about that is while we have a Building Code that is the guideline for enforcement for the entire Bahamas, the ability to enforce it is based on you having the technical persons from the Ministry of Works on that island to enforce the code.”

Mr Sands added: “The challenge is that they are not dispatched on a monthly basis. They are dispatched on significant projects as requested. There is no one to ensure that a persons is up to code.

“In most cases they rely on the enforcement of the building code by a local administrator or someone on their team. That is not to say that they can’t do the job, but their ability to police it as vigorously is what I would question.”