The Nigerian Institute of Town Planners, Oyo state chapter has called on the state government led by Engineer Seyi Makinde to investigate the immediate and remote causes of fire outbreak at the Dugbe market in Ibadan, the state capital.
The professional body in a statement signed by its Chairman Tpl. Adeyemo Olajide Kamoru (JP.) and made available to insideoyo.com on Wednesday noted that fire outbreak in market in the state is getting too much therefore needs serious attention.
The statement read in part “The recent fire outbreak on Lebanon Street in Dugbe, the famous Central Business District (CBD) of Ibadan, the Capital City, of Oyo State came with a rude shock especially when the state government is just recovering from a similar fire disaster which razed Akeesan Market late last year in Oyo Town.
“Fire outbreaks in market areas is becoming a common incident in the state with its accompanied fatalities such as loss of lives and properties worth millions of naira. Fear and panic among residents and property owners becomes another another concern which we never prayed for any more.
“Dugbe, the commercial hub of Ibadan City. Fire incidents of this magnitude raze down properties worth of millions of naira at this critical time of economic instability and ravaging Corona virus pandemic in the country should attract urgent attention of the government in putting in place all necessary precautionary measures to curb future occurrences of other fire outbreak.
“The incident when carefully considered might be attributed with one or several factors ranging from population explosion caused by urbanization, overcrowding, congestion, change of use and property conversions, violation of space and building standards, unstable electricity supply and or wrong electricity connections, uncoordinated informal activities sectors as well as negligence on the part of shop owners and occupants with non adherence to physical planning and development regulations.
“Efforts should be made by the State Government to critically investigate both the immediate and remote causes of the fire outbreak with a view to unraveling the fact surrounding it causes and proffer measures to mitigate against future fire occurrences in our pace setter state.
“It is the utmost responsibility of the Government to ensure safety and security of lives and properties. Safety and security in this regard is not only limited to crime and urban violence, it equally involves other physical and natural hazards such as fire outbreak, flooding as being witnessed in our cities.”
The body also implored the state government to reemphasise the importance of building codes and the need for its enforcement.
“We implore the state government to re – emphasize the importance of building codes and the need for enforcement of the same and ensure strict adherence and total compliance by developers across the state. Building codes among many other planning laws and regulations specify the minimum space standards and requirement for building construction in order to ensure public health, safety against fire outbreak, orderliness, convenience, aesthetics and promotion of general well being of the public.
“Similarly adherence to appropriate choice of building materials, occupancy ratios, provision of portable fire extinguisher as well as installation of fire and smoke detectors and fire alarms in every property could go a long way to reduce the risk of fire outbreaks in our cities.” the statement added.
