Abuja – The House of Representatives Committee on Housing, is committed to ensure the elimination of quackery in the country’s housing sector.
The Chairman of the Committee, Rep. Mustapha Dawaki, made the statement on Thursday in Abuja at a one-day public hearing on three housing related bills and one motion earlier referred to it by the House.
The three bills are: a Bill for an Act to Amend the Mortgage Institutions Act 2014; a Bill for an Act to Amend the Builders Registration Act 2004 and a Bill for an Act to Amend the Quantity Surveyors Registration Act 2004.
The motion called for Measures to Stop the Incessant Collapse of Buildings in Nigeria.
Dawaki said the hearing was crucial in safeguarding the lives of Nigerians and ensuring they were not victims of collapsed buildings.
He stressed the need to promote professional ethics in the building industry.
“This hearing, which aims at getting the inputs of stakeholders in the building industry, could not have come at a better time than now due to recent developments in the housing sector,’’ he said.
According to the lawmaker, the bills seek to review the penalties under the act for quacks who impersonate building professionals.
“This is with a view to engender sanity in the building industry in the country,’’ the chairman added.
Stakeholders in the housing sector who presented memoranda at the hearing proposed stiffer sanctions to eliminate quackery in the building and construction sector.
Mr Aliyu Wammako, a representative of the Association of Registered Quantity Surveyors of Nigeria, said the association supported upward review of the penalties for quacks and unregistered builders. (NAN)