Archives-April 2018

The rapid rate of uncontrolled urban development is becoming a major challenge facing policy makers in the urban areas. Increase in population demands has led to high demand for housing hence scramble for space. This paper gives an overview of the global and local situation in regard to the adverse effects of uncontrolled urban development on the basic amenities in sub-saharan Africa. The paper was based on Mann’s Urban Model which emphasizes the need for a systematic growth of urban centers in a more concentric and planned manner. It was based on a study undertaken in Eldoret town; Kenya strives to discuss uncontrolled urban development and its mitigations. It was a case study, focusing on two informal settlements: Langas and Munyaka selected purposely. The two settlements were selected for study due to; the high density and consolidation and they are settlements outlying on the urban periphery with lack of appropriate infrastructure, poor maintenance regimes, overcrowding, uncontrolled and conflicting land uses. Arising from the study is that lack of adequate professional planners private land owners are not exposed to proper professional advice resulting in land use plans which reflect the wishes of land owners. People find immediate, although substandard, solutions to their occupation problem which carries a negative impact for the overall urban structure. It limits the expansion of infrastructure, Illegal connection, Vandalism of water transmission lines, poses a serious health hazard of the town and pressures on service and utility systems, hence system overload. This study recommends that, the current cadastral system in the different counties should provide useful information for formulating development plans, which will form a basis of managing the expansion of medium sized towns.

Building industry is beset with some problems among which are the challenges of cost reduction through timely, delivery, quality control and health/safety measures. The problems of unavailability and unreadiness of materials and working implements at the correct time and place. They team up to hinder the operations from being carried out on schedule. Procurement of quality materials and implement vis-à-vis the deployment of health/safety measures go a long way to muddle up value chain and specification which in effect hampers effective public building delivery. To achieve the stated aim three core objectives are set out as follows: to examine the input of timely delivery; assess the effect of quality improvement and ascertain the impact of health/safety measures all as cost reduction strategies in public building project delivery in the South East Nigeria. The field survey research approach were adopted to collect relevant data, structured questionnaire on contemporary issues on material management was administered to over 760 respondent selected on the basis of randomized stratified samplings technique. Data collected from field survey were analyzed using appropriate statistical tools. Among the major findings of the study is the variation in cost reduction and significantly reduced cost of public building projects delivery. Diligent building construction management in the area of time economy, quality improvement and good health/safety measures correlate highly and positively with each other as relevant factors in effective public building projects delivery.

The rate of increase in construction site accident is very large which readily indicate the need to examine and overhaul the existing safety practices deployed in building construction sites. In order to improve the overall safety performance, there is ample need to investigate the root causes of accidents; results of which could be utilized in formulating more conducive working conditions and environments to avert accident. The following were conducted: review of literatures, archives of reported accidents cases kept by the Construction Industry Development Board (CIDB). Also social surveys exercise using structured questionnaire forms were implemented to obtain relevant data from respondents who are mainly contractors, developers and consultant within Imo State, Nigeria. The finding reveals that accident result from critical factors such as unsafe method, human element, unsafe equipment, job site conditions, management and unique nature of the industry. After due analysis the main causes of accident were attributable to workers’ negligence, failure of workers to obey work procedures and safety principles; operating equipment without safety devices; poor site management; harsh work operation work at high elevation; low knowledge and skill level of workers; failure to use personal protective equipment and poor workers attitudes about safety. In general, lack of adherence to safety requirements which has led to increase exposure of workmen and the general public to risk situations on construction resulting in a high rate of incidence of accidents.

Various studies have made strides to discuss causes of uncontrolled urban development; this paper goes ahead to discuss the causes and remedies to the same issue based on sub-Saharan countries. Squalor settlements are becoming a threat to growth of cities and development of towns worldwide. The scenario is likely to worsen by the year 2030 as many people migrate to most of these cities and if appropriate actions will not be taken. It was based on a study undertaken in Eldoret town; Kenya strives to discuss uncontrolled urban development and its mitigations. In this case Mann’s Urban Model was adopted, which emphasizes the need for a systematic growth of urban centers in a more concentric and planned manner. It was a case study, focusing on two informal settlements: Langas and Munyaka selected purposely. The two settlements were selected for study due to; the high density and consolidation and they are settlements outlying on the urban periphery with lack of appropriate infrastructure, poor maintenance regimes, overcrowding, uncontrolled and conflicting land uses. Arising from the study, most causes were found to be tailored to economic, social, political and environmental. Increased movement from rural areas to urban has doubled the demand for housing and basic amenities overwhelming the service provider. The situation is coupled with institutional weaknesses and lack of capacity in the municipality to control urban development. This paper recommends that, liaison and co-ordination between different government agencies and stakeholders is necessary for expertise, exchange of ideas and machinery during planning.

We are very happy to announce that from 1st April 2018, Dr. Ankita Pathak has joined the team of Elixir Editorial Advisory Board. He/She will carry a special responsibility for dealing with manuscripts based on Business Administration. Dr. Ankita Pathak working as Assistant Professor, Department of Business Administration, Pacific University, Udaipur- 313003, Rajasthan, India. The appointment of Dr. Ankita Pathak as member Editorial Advisory Board strengthens the links and will make it easier for prospective authors to establish contact with the journal. Please send any expressions of interest to elixirpublishers@gmail.com.

We are very happy to announce that from 1st April 2018, Mr. Saba Razaq Salman Al mansoury has joined the team of Elixir Editorial Advisory Board. He/She will carry a special responsibility for dealing with manuscripts based on Solid State Physics and Materials. Mr. Saba Razaq Salman Al mansoury working as Assistant Lecturer, Physics Department, College of Education For Pure Sciences, University of Babylon, Iraq. The appointment of Mr. Saba Razaq Salman Al mansoury as member Editorial Advisory Board strengthens the links and will make it easier for prospective authors to establish contact with the journal. Please send any expressions of interest to elixirpublishers@gmail.com.

We are very happy to announce that from 13th April 2018, Mr. Aqa Raza has joined the team of Elixir Editorial Advisory Board. He/She will carry a special responsibility for dealing with manuscripts based on Law. The appointment of Mr. Aqa Raza as member Editorial Advisory Board strengthens the links and will make it easier for prospective authors to establish contact with the journal. Please send any expressions of interest to elixirpublishers@gmail.com.

We are very happy to announce that from 14th April 2018, Dr. Ayman Shehata Mohammed Ahmed Osman El-Shazly has joined the team of Elixir Editorial Advisory Board. He/She will carry a special responsibility for dealing with manuscripts based on Mathematics. Dr. Ayman Shehata Mohammed Ahmed Osman El-Shazly working as Lecturer, Department of Mathematics, Faculty of Science, Assiut University, Assiut 71516, Egypt. The appointment of Dr. Ayman Shehata Mohammed Ahmed Osman El-Shazly as member Editorial Advisory Board strengthens the links and will make it easier for prospective authors to establish contact with the journal. Please send any expressions of interest to elixirpublishers@gmail.com.

Table of contents for the month of April 2018