Difficulties in Center Operations Due to Lack of Personnel and Budget...Urgent Need for Effective Solutions
The "Regional Building Safety Center," established to address concerns about building safety and management deficiencies caused by rapid urbanization and the increasing complexity of structures, has been criticized for failing to achieve practical results due to a lack of personnel and budget.
The Dangjin City Council in South Chungcheong Province adopted a proposal urging support for strengthening local building safety at the 1st plenary session of the 114th extraordinary meeting held on the 18th. The proposal, titled "Proposal for Support and Institutional Improvement of Regional Building Safety Centers," was submitted by Council Member Kim Myunghoe.
On that day, Council Member Kim pointed out, "Recently, inadequate safety management at construction sites and insufficient supervision have been identified as major causes of building safety accidents," and added, "Although the establishment of Regional Building Safety Centers has been made mandatory to strengthen the role of local governments, the lack of personnel and budget has prevented them from being effective."
In fact, the Ministry of Land, Infrastructure and Transport announced the establishment of Regional Building Safety Centers in 140 local governments through an amendment to the Building Act in July 2023. However, as of June 2024, only 94 local governments have completed the establishment of these centers.
Among them, only 47 have hired specialized personnel, and these experts are mainly concentrated in Seoul and the Gyeonggi region, making it difficult for local areas to secure qualified staff.
Council Member Kim stated, "Due to the difficulty of recruiting talent in local areas and the lower compensation in the public sector compared to the private sector, many local governments are only partially operating their Regional Building Safety Centers," and emphasized, "In line with the increasing specialization in the construction field, it is necessary to secure specialized personnel to enhance the effectiveness of these centers."
Meanwhile, the Dangjin City Council plans to deliver this proposal to the Office of the President, the Ministry of Land, Infrastructure and Transport, the Speaker of the National Assembly, and local councils nationwide.
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