By LETRE SWEETING

lsweeting@tribunemedia.net

THE Ministry of Works plans to have the country’s building code upgraded by an international agency due to concerns about the current outdated code and as part of the recent launch of a coastal management programme.

During the launch of the Climate Resilient Coastal Management and Infrastructure programme at Balmoral Club yesterday, the planned updates to the building code, which have not been updated since 2003, were announced in an effort to be better prepared for climate related disasters.

Works and Utilities Minister Alfred Sears said that with the future expectation of natural disasters more intense than Hurricane Dorian, buildings and structures in The Bahamas need to be made less vulnerable.

“The United Nations have declared that The Bahamas as an island nation state is amongst the most vulnerable within the world from climate change and the rising sea levels. The experience that we had in 2019 is unlike anything that we would have experienced before. So, it requires that we review the current code so that we can ensure that we have more resilience, because it is predicted that with climate change with rising sea levels, we will have more severe hurricanes and weather (phenomena),” he said.

Mr Sears said upgrades to the building code are progressing steadily and right now he is waiting on recommendations for the draft of the changes.

“Well, first of all, I need to receive the recommendations. And then we will engage as is taking place now with various stakeholders and get the input to consider the feedback of stakeholders. And then we will take a number of recommendations for amendments to the Cabinet for the Cabinet’s consideration. And when necessary, if we are amending a statute, we will have to go to Parliament and have the debate and make the case in our national Parliament.”

Mr Sears said the upgrade to the building code would ensure that buildings, sea walls, docks and materials used in construction are of better quality, which may cause a rise in the cost of materials.

“We have to make sure that the built environment is strengthened and that we have to better protect our mangroves, wetlands and put more resilience in our sea walls, in our docks in the buildings, the location of those buildings and the material that we use to construct the built environment,” he said.

“Because we are not manufacturing the material ourselves, that depends on the global stream of commerce. And when you have the disruption in the supply chain due to the war in Ukraine, the pandemic, and other factors, of course, it contributes to the increase of costs. “And, therefore, we are doing the very best that we can to source material from more closer locations, so that we are not as impacted by the transportation disruption. So, all of those measures are being considered as we deal with this very volatile global environment,” Mr Sears said.

Peter Phipps, a representative of Mott MacDonald Limited, said that the updated building codes, currently in the draft phase, will be constructed in collaboration with the International Code Council. Mott MacDonald is a consultancy agency working with the government on the issue of climate change interventions.

“(The goal is) to support best practice of construction of coastal infrastructure. That is not just concrete and steel, but also looking at other significant greener types of management infrastructure that could be required or best suited in different environments, that provides coastal protection and flood mitigation impacts. It (the current building code) also offers buildings in and around the coastal zone and what can be done to buildings in order to actually enhance their overall resilience to coastal impacts. So they’re very wide ranging, but this is an important part of the overall enhancement,” Mr Phipps said.

He said the general objective of the government’s consultancy with reference to the building code is to carry out a comprehensive assessment of existing codes used in The Bahamas and prepare and produce an upgraded building code that incorporates appropriate coastal climate hazard exposure and risk.