Muhith: People are not following building code properly

Finance Minister AMA Muhith has said that people are not properly following the Bangladesh National Building Code during the construction of buildings across the country. "The country has had a building code for a long time, but for some reason it is not properly implemented and enforced. We do not demolish a building even if it is built without following the building code," he said. His remarks came after the unveiling of the covers of quarterly magazine 'Halkhata' and a booklet titled 'What do we do during earthquake' published by the IFIC Bank at the Secretariat in Dhaka on Sunday. Urban planner Professor Jamilur Reza Chowdhury, Halkhata Editor-in-Chief Shawkat Hossain and Editor Sharmin Nishat also attended the programme. Muhith said: “As the code is not enforced appropriately, building owners do not comply with it during construction, and the authorities do not tear down the structures.” The people of Bangladesh were fortunate because fire breakouts are not regular, he said, adding that the consequence of a similar incident or an earthquake would be devastating in this country because there are not enough open spaces for carrying out rescue operations during such an event. It was informed at the programme that 'Halkhata' will distribute 100,000 copies the booklet to create awareness among students of schools and colleges.