Social psychologists call it “social contagion”: this self-destructive tendency of the “new” Ghanaian.
We didn’t use to be like this.
We have become either too eager to be defined by our possession of a car and a house – even a year after first degree – or too consumed by profiteering to care what happens to our collective morality or the physical environment.
We seem to have made up our minds that nothing matters except money, legitimately acquired or otherwise.
It is the reason why suddenly Ghana has become the Colombia of Africa – cocaine capital of the world; why Galamsey will NEVER stop; why every stretch of road in Accra, Takoradi and Kumasi has become a market where even fruits and veggies are displayed on bare ground, and why we would sell cooked rice and stew or roast plantain less than a metre from a public toilet and eat it on the spot even as putrefaction spills over onto the streets, breeding maggots in their ugly millions.
What causes this behaviour change? Social media?
The “new” Ghanaian character is the reason why we would build everywhere and anywhere - private homes, commercial property, bridges et al ‒ careless of rules.
Welcome to Ghana where building regulations have become a mere paper tiger.
Contrarily, we are the first to scream, grit our teeth and condemn the government when buildings collapse, floods overwhelm our lives and property gets destroyed.
Between 2012 and 2014, Accra officially recorded four major incidents of building collapse that claimed a total of 19 lives: the Melcom building near Achimota in 2012; the Grand View Hotel building at Nii-Boi Town in 2014 and the building near Akai House at Cantonments.
Cause: “faulty construction, structural weaknesses, poor foundation, and a lack of proper building permits.” Where were the regulators? Who tested the quality of materials?
No one gets punished; at least, no one is on record as losing a big contract, gone to jail or been publicly disgraced as a direct result of obvious negligence, poor-quality construction materials or lack of supervision.
Recurring
Last March 30, the President of the Ghana Institute of Architects, Mr Tony Asare, speaking in an interview on Joy FM, stated that recurring structural failures pointed to deep-rooted weaknesses in supervision, enforcement and professional capacity within local authorities.
More stunning is the revelation by Mr Asare about the severe shortage of architects within district assemblies, which are mandated to enforce building regulations.
Hear him: “We have 261 assemblies.
There are only about 10 architects.
So who does the architectural work?”
It’s obvious: as the GIA president said, “Somebody is playing a role the person is not qualified to carry out.”
Then came the question, “If you go to the assembly and there is no architect and there is no engineer, who supervises the building?”
Beyond regulatory lapses and shortage of professionals, Mr Asare highlighted concerns about the quality of construction materials on the market, particularly reinforcement bars.
For instance, he said, “some iron rods advertised as standard sizes are often found to be below specification when measured, compromising structural strength.”
These last few points in Mr Asare’s presentation jolted me, particularly his last point about the quality of construction materials on the market.
It is also the reason why I was delighted by the bold effort of one company that is into offering building solutions.
Pledge
On the occasion of its 10th anniversary in Ghana, MC Bauchemie, a firm of German origins, organised a symposium last July 28 and invited civil engineers, material scientists/engineers, architects, policy makers, property developers, contractors, town and development planners, to think through the topic: ‘From concrete Timebombs to Building Century-Ready Cities: Navigating structural safety, accountability and climate resilience in Ghana’s Built Environment’.
Shocked by how few skilled workers there were/are in the construction industry in Ghana, MC Bauchemie’s CEO, Noble Bediako, with his hand on his heart, pledged: "As part of a five-year programme, we will enter into even more cooperation with research and training institutions … to train about 7.000 engineers, technicians and craftsmen.
We are fully committed to increase the proportion of raw local materials used in our products to 100% in order to protect the environment and climate."
This is the pledge of one company.
Shall we see by hand other companies whose motivation is public safety and not profit at all costs? Shall we hear similar pledges from regulators, contracting firms, MMDAs?
Once upon a time somewhere in this world, the collapse of buildings attracted severe punishment, including execution of craftsmen.
This was during the Babylonian era.
Way back in the third century (27 C.E.), the Fidenae Amphitheatre outside Rome came down in rubble.
An estimated 20,000 deaths! It remains history's deadliest structural failure.
In 2013, the Rana Plaza, an eight-story commercial building housing garment factories, collapsed in Bangladesh.
By the time the last slab or boulder was lifted by rescuers, some 1,129 people had died.
Cause of collapse: illegal construction, heavy machinery vibrations, and poor building materials.
A bribed regulator looked elsewhere while the building progressed.
These statistics should scare us.
The writer is the Executive Director, Centre for Communication and Culture.
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