AVERTING PREVENTABLE DISASTERS 

Regulators should be alive to their responsibilities

Statistics from the Lagos State Fire and Rescue Service (LSFRS) paint a dreary picture of avoidable disasters in the country. In the first half of the year, the LSFRS tackled three explosions; two collapsed buildings, rescued 117 persons and got a total of 924 calls related to fire incidents in the state. In the mid-year activity report, 42 deaths were recorded. Properties lost to fire were estimated at N14.62 billion. The LSFRS Director, Margaret Adeseye, who disclosed that fire incidents increased considerably from the same period compared to the previous year said that carelessness and negligence were the major causes of the disaster. She advised Lagosians to be safety conscious, especially with the advent of gas as alternative source of fuel, which has come to stay.   

We must commend the Lagos State government for keeping records of these incidents. It is worthy of emulation by other states. But prevention is still better than cure. From vehicular accidents that have resulted in huge balls of fire that have consumed lives and property, authorities at all levels should be concerned about the growing numbers of preventable disasters.   

 Several reports have shown that these disasters occur largely due to human errors, most of them arising from the failure of citizens to abide by basic rules and regulations established by extant town planning and physical development laws. Few buildings, for instance, have water sprinklers or fire extinguishers at strategic and accessible points for use in case of fire outbreak. Besides, many building entrances are not wide enough for fire engines to access in the event of fire incidence.    

While non-compliance with safety regulations might have been largely due to ignorance as many citizens do not engage the services of qualified professionals to handle the construction of their property, there is considerable evidence of lack of diligence by property developers who compromise standards in a despicable effort to cut corners to reduce costs. Whatever may be the situation, it is the failure of enforcement of regulations that has led to most of the disasters. For instance, town planning officials are required by law to monitor physical development and ensure that building codes and safety standards are complied with at every stage of construction. In the same way, road traffic regulators, including the police and the road safety corps are mandated to ensure compliance with traffic regulations not just on speed limits but also on axial load, particularly of articulated vehicles.    

What is found generally is that regulatory authorities are rather reactive than proactive. They prefer to arrest a criminal rather than prevent the commission of a crime. Meanwhile, even its reactive approach to enforcement is fraught with inefficiency given response time to distress calls. The result is that lives and properties, sometimes worth billions of Naira, are usually lost before the intervention of the management agencies. That is unacceptable in any serious society.  

Going forward, therefore, we recommend that the reactive approach to enforcement of regulation must change if the nation is to fundamentally check the spate of disasters enveloping it. Regulatory agencies need to apply the rules in accordance with extant laws that require them to provide effective supervision of physical development at every stage of construction. We also consider it necessary for the various regulatory agencies and disaster management bodies to collaborate and embark on a massive public enlightenment on safety regulations, dangers of non-compliance and basic steps to take in the event of any untoward occurrence.  

Overall, we must institute a culture of voluntary compliance, which will lessen the task of the regulatory bodies and draw the curtain on the increasing spate of disasters plaguing the country.