The need for minimum safe standards for rural housing

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OPINION

By Simon J. Mone Wodobalim

In most developing countries, the implementation of building and construction standards tends to be more pronounced in the eyes of the urban populace, but less so among the very rural communities.

There are reasons for this, and these reasons have made it expensive for our countryside communities to enjoy the luxury and satisfaction of living in ‘resilient’ houses. And that is why when the nature-induced misfortunes come calling, the countryside communities face the wrath of such conditions.

When such conditions prevail, they undermine human settlement because people lack the information to build resilient homes. They rely on a lot of information that comes from their experiences, and so they miss out on the minimum requirements they need to build.

It is, therefore, difficult to suggest that we build weaker rural houses because we do not have proper materials. Or that we cannot buy these materials because they are expensive. Knowing that it is more expensive to lose life than to wait longer to have the means to afford materials that can be resilient to strong winds, we need not take things heedlessly. Local materials can be enhanced.

The skills can be transferred. We know that traditionally, in the context of non-engineered building and construction, the older generation of people continues to pass this process of building on to the younger ones. The elders show their young people why they do certain things in that way. And that is why all the time, communities tell you that this is how it has been done. “We found our elders doing it like this.” And every community developed its own way of doing things, which varies from region to region, depending on how nature has endowed a particular region.

This stuff has been tried and tested over generations. True, that non-engineered processes hold some inherent wisdom. However, for safety and uniformity, such non-engineered steps should now be compiled and made available to the general community. Once accepted for use, communities will have the confidence to choose specific materials and ways that respond to different predicted conditions. Like, what materials to use. How to design them. Where to build them. How to build them.

So that we can build safer and stronger homes. Then we will be able to avoid or address some challenges that befall us repeatedly. Then we shall find that by doing things like this and combining the tried and tested locally available practices, we introduce newer things to communities.

We introduce locally acceptable engineering knowledge, and, in the process, we can formulate standards for safe rural housing against the many hazards that impact the rural housing stock. In the long term, by doing this, we develop some principles and minimum specific standards for certain identified hazards and threats. It allows the rural community to enjoy a safe, quality, and comfortable living. And all rural communities will be resilient against some disasters.

The need for some minimum standards should not be too sophisticated to formulate. Together with the local people, who best know their settlement conditions, they are assisted in developing a risk profile of all locations by region. Then the best solutions are proposed for each problem.

We can stop these recurring disasters – strong storms, flooding, landslides, poor siting of residences, weak slopes, and wildfires that rural communities face. We help communities to stay resilient against the hazards that they face. Let us not wait for another opportunity to be helpful since we experience these recurrent disasters year after year. It was yesterday that we should have started to provide solutions that can protect people.

It is our responsibility to remain helpful and offer guidance to communities. There is a need for an acceptable standard of rural housing for rural communities. We must review the settlement pattern in the rural areas and propose the necessary changes that meet the acceptable minimum requirements.

The writer is a Civil Engineer, E-mail: smone@mail.com