Works and Transport Minister General
Edward Katumba Wamala has cautioned the new National
Building Review Board to refrain from writing postmortem reports and instead prevent accidents from happening.
The 16-member board which was inaugurated today will be led by Emmanuel Male, a former member of the board who is taking over the mandate from Enock Kibbamu. The other members of the board are Eng. Betty Nakamya, Sam Nyadri, Charles Kyamwanywa, Harriet Kaahwa, Tabitha Kakuze, Edward Ssimbwa, James Enou, DE Jackson Amone, Eng Eva Katushabe, Apollo Mukasa, Milton Fred Ocen, Eng Jonathan Tugume, Margaret Adata, Enock Kibbamu and Vincent B. Byendaimira.
The National
Building Review Board is mandated to monitor building developments, oversee, inspect and monitor
building committees, hear and determine appeals from persons dissatisfied with
the decisions of the building committees and determine
fees to be charged by urban and district building committees. The board also has to ensure that
the design and construction of buildings and utilities to which the public is
to have access cater for persons with disabilities.
General
Katumba said that the first term of the board, which started in 2018 and ended on June 30,
2021, was about laying the foundation for work, which was done
very well amidst the challenges which come along with the developments in the
many new cities in the country.
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The new chairperson of the board Emmanuel
Male, a quantitative engineer says collapsing buildings are a new phenomenon that didn’t exist in the past.
Architect
Enock Kibbamu the outgoing chairperson
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Kibbamu added that that the board has come up with the Building Information Management
Systems (BIMS) which is going to remove bottlenecks in the approval process
which hinder many developers to follow compliance and once they are removed,
many things will change. According to
Architect Edward Ssimbwa, also a board member, all entities have to work hand in
hand to ensure sanity in the building industry.
Dennis Kasule Ssebunya
Freelancer