NAN-DS-5
Buildings
By Angela Atabo
Abuja, Nov. 15, 2016 (NAN) Mr Joseph Anebi, the Controller-General, Federal Fire Service (FFS) says most government buildings in the country are not safe for habitation.
Anebi gave the warning at a news conference in Abuja on Tuesday in commemoration of the 2016 Fire Safety Week.
According to him, if the service is to go by set standard, many government structures will be sealed for failing risk assessment.
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“We normally carry out risk assessment of the building to find out the fire loads, the risk involved in that building and then we give you advice appropriately on what to do to safe guard your building.
“I don’t want to mention them, but so many government structures here, if we are to go by the standard, most of them needs to be sanctioned, most of them needs to be sealed.
“After carrying out the risk assessment we discovered that the lives of the people there are not safe.
“After giving those people warning, giving them what and what to be put in place, may be because of one thing or the other, they will not do it.
“And if we are to go by the power given to us we can seal the office.
“But if we are to go by that, that means most of the offices will be sealed off.
“So in essence we are saying that all these public buildings that have been vetted and found wanting need to put those things in place so that the lives of the public, the government property within that structure will be protected.’’
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Anebi stated that the service decided not to seal buildings that have failed risk assessment to give their owners the time they will need to safeguard the buildings.
“They were not aware before now; but now that they know, they need to put safety measures in place and it entails funds.
“So if we should outrightly seal them because they do not meet the standards we are not doing them any good.’’
He said although the fire safety code was introduced two years ago, many owners of buildings are yet to comply with the safety standards.
He stated that fire prevention does not begin with a fire outbreak alone, but with the foundation of the building.
According to him, just as architects’ input are a necessity for a building, it is also necessary for builders to send their building plans to the service for vetting.
This, he said, would enable the service to ensure that safety standards were met by developers.
He stated that equipment such as sprinklers and smoke detectors, among others, are necessary in a building to automatically fight fire whenever it occurs.
Anebi said although fire could be friendly, “when it is out of hand it could be disastrous and cause damage to property that took years to acquire.’’
The controller-general, who urged the public to be careful when handling fire, solicited support for the service to promote fire safety.
He stated that the service is willing to accept goodwill from individuals and groups to enable it to carry out its mandate effectively. (NAN)
ATAB/LAB/YEE
Edited by Lydia Beshel/Emmanuel Yashim
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