Civil Engineer specialising in structures, Tony Gibbs.
Government is being warned not to ignore the recent severe weather systems that affected several Caribbean islands this year, particularly in September.
Civil engineer specialising in structures, Tony Gibbs, said while Barbados has a National Building Code, an effective enforcement mechanism is absent. He noted that an effective mechanism is not a government agency, and suggested that the use of private sector agencies should be utilised in the effort.
Gibbs, a chief engineer who has worked on several local and regional projects, including the Central Bank of Barbados, said many of the buildings in Barbados are unable to withstand the strong winds that are caused by major hurricanes.
He even suggested that Barbados should adopt the revised edition of the Organisation of Eastern Caribbean States (OECS) Building Code, which he played a key role in revising.
“The community should demand better building standards. And the government should put mechanisms in place to enforce the Barbados National Building Code. The code exists, but the enforcement doesn’t.
“As far as hurricanes are concerned, the vulnerable parts of buildings are typically the roof, the windows, and the external doors. You don’t need a lot of money to have a safe home,” he said.
Gibbs, the owner of Consulting Engineers Partnership Ltd (CEP), was speaking to The Barbados Advocate recently at the Barbados Town Planning Society (BTPS) symposium to celebrate World Town Planning Day, held at the Hastings, Christ Church, Marriott Courtyard Hotel.
The engineer also noted that it is time the General Insurance Association of Barbados (GIAB) play a pivotal role in ensuring that building standards are taken seriously.
“Effectively at the moment, they ignore it for commercial reasons. But it would be more beneficial to the insurance companies if they do because they would pay out less money when there are severe events because there would be less losses.
“They cannot do it company by company; they have to do it as a whole industry, otherwise they would probably have problems in commercial competitiveness. It needs to be done as a whole industry,” he said. (AH)