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Masaka City gets nine-member building committee
Masaka City Council new chairperson building board, Ms Alice Nanungi (left) receives tools of office from Ms Flavia Bwire (right), the secretary of National Building Review Board in Masaka City on March 5, 2022. PHOTO | MALIK FAHAD JJINGO
What you need to know:
- The committee chairperson was given stamps, flow charts, and laws, among other tools of office to help the committee in executing its duties.
Masaka City has received a nine-member committee to guide infrastructure development in the area.
The committee which was inaugurated on Saturday is chaired by Ms Alice Nanungi, the Masaka City council works committee chairperson. Committee members include; Masaka City town clerk, Mr Geoffrey Bemanyisa, the physical planner, Mr Martin Kigozi, and the environment officer Christine Nabadda among other members.
National Building Review Board (NBRB) Executive Secretary, Ms Flavia Bwire, who presided over the inauguration ceremony said that a team from NBRB inducted the building committee members into the do’s and don’ts of the Building Control Act, their roles and that of the Physical Planning Committee saying that these two should work hand in hand to ensure well-planned infrastructure in the city.
“The role of the building committee is at the tail end of the other committee [Physical planning] and the former has to ensure that the requirements enlisted by the latter are met. The building committee in other words it’s a clearinghouse for all the others, (National Environment Management Authority, Land Board, and Physical development committees) all terms and conditions set by the respective authorities have to be met before clearance for construction can be done,” she said
The committee chairperson was given stamps, flow charts, and laws, among other tools of office to help the committee in executing its duties.
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The Minister for Works and Transport Gen Edward Katumba Wamala, represented by Masaka City deputy resident city commissioner, Mr Ahmed Kateregga Musazi said Masaka is currently witnessing an infrastructural overhaul and this massive development must be guided with proper physical planning and strict adherence to building laws and regulations.
“Failure to follow these legislations will turn Masaka into a slum and a centre of building-related accidents, which we don’t want here,” he said.
He said building accidents like one that happened near Nakayiba wetland recently where a storeyed building under construction collapsed and killed one person and injured another, will be avoided if the new building committee does its work perfectly.
“You will have to scrutinize and approve building plans, issue building, and occupation permits, ensure that the design and construction of buildings and utilities to which the public is to have access cater for the person with disabilities, this is a huge mandate before you, but I have no doubt in the competences and abilities of the team entrusted with the task,” he added.
Masaka City Clerk, Mr Geoffrey Bemanyisa asked the government to expedite the approval of the city's physical development plan to enable the proper planning for the new city.
“Almost all the newly created 10 cities are stuck with this challenge of lack of detailed plan and a physical development plan because of the delayed compilation of and approval of the physical development plans of these cities. We ask the government to expedite this process to enable a well-planned physical development of these cities,” he said.
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Currently, Mr Bemanyisa said physical development in the city is based on guesswork which makes enforcement of construction laws difficult.
