#BTColumn – Stay in your lane – Part 1

Disclaimer: The views and opinions expressed by this author are their own and do not represent the official position of the Barbados Today.

by Grenville Phillips II

Over the past 20 years, I have written weekly articles on diverse topics. Recently, some readers suggested that I stay in my ‘lane’ and only write about engineering matters. That will likely be a wasted effort.

At the start of my engineering career, I was frustrated that a client had rejected beneficial advice.  My father explained that my responsibility was to give my best professional advice, which my clients were free to accept or reject. He wisely suggested that I should not get emotionally attached to any advice I give.

That wisdom has sustained my engineering career.  However, giving unsolicited advice to benefit the public can be frustrating. I will share a few examples to prove the point.

UNSOLICITED ADVICE.

I advised against using the relatively new trenchless technology to transport sewage at the south coast, due to the unacceptably high and likely risks.

It was foreseen that the design pipe slopes through saturated soils under a highway, would be compromised over time. Predictably, the system embarrassingly failed, so we must pay an additional sewerage tax.

I advised against building highways that violated explicit safety design criteria. Several unnecessary deaths later, these highways remain hazardous.

The cost of correcting the deadliest risk (that contributed to the death of one of our students) is approximately $1,000.  But that seems not to be a priority.

BUILDING CODE.

After advising that our 1993 Building Code be used by building professionals and regulators, six of our young women died tragically in a building in Bridgetown in 2010.

After the fire, I offered to do a structural assessment of every building in Bridgetown, free of cost. The assessment was to identify the number of hours each building should remain structurally stable during a fire.

This should allow fire officers to confidently enter such buildings, and rescue the occupants. Despite formally making the offer multiple times, it was not accepted.

For 20 years, I advocated the use of our national building code (1993). After the 2010 fire deaths, the government seemed determined to do something about it.

Three years later they did – they abolished it. Thus, Barbados became the only country on this planet to offer no home-building guidance to its citizens, despite being one of the most heavily taxed. We remain so to this day.

SCHOOLS AND HOTELS.

After the 2010 earthquake in Haiti, I assessed every government primary, secondary and tertiary school building in Barbados, and provided economical recommendations.  The study was peer-reviewed and provided to DEM and the Ministry of Education.

To my knowledge, not a single  recommendation was followed, so 80 per cent of our students remain at risk of being buried under collapsed school buildings.

When I was president of the Barbados Association of Professional Engineers, I received complaints from visiting engineers about the structural safety of our hotels. They were wondering what kind of outfit we were running.  I explained that as a local, I do not patronise hotels, but would visit them.

I was so shocked at what I observed, that I immediately contacted the BHTA and the Ministry of Tourism.  We agreed on a strategy where I would confidentially inform the hotels, and let them address the concerns.

I contacted several hotels. Surprisingly, I was asked to put my concerns in writing, which I did. They then threatened me with legal action. My successor was sufficiently intimidated that he abandoned the initiative.     

I can write about similar experiences all day long. The point is that in modern Barbados, my ‘lane’ is a dead-end street.

Grenville Phillips II is a Chartered Structural Engineer. He can be reached at NextParty246@gmail.com