THE EDITOR: Sadly there was the Grenfell Tower fire in the UK and now, similarly, one in Seville, Spain, that are both being blamed on the composite panelling that is so prevalent in buildings now.
The fire service should do an audit on our high-rise buildings for fire rating of similar cladding materials. Most of our new construction has this type of cladding, particularly those buildings built through Chinese loans which were constructed using imported materials from China with unknown specification oversight (Ministry of Education Towers, Ministry of Health, NAPA, BIR buildings, etc come to mind).
Even older buildings done by European and local contractors such as the entire waterfront complex, including Hyatt and the Unit Trust building, are fitted with such cladding.
This would require some technical expertise, but please don't use the opportunity to hire a consultant. This capability already resides in various government employees/divisions.
Let's be proactive and make the changes necessary before we end up with a national tragedy that will be too much to bear.
C ALEXANDER
Port of Spain
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