UCT Open Access Journals (Univ. of Cape Town)
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Comparison of Formal and Informal Land Administration Systems in Lagos State: The Case of Epe Local Government Area
No full textThe efficient harnessing of land resources remains key to unlocking the potential of economies in Sub-Saharan Africa. Land administration systems provide a veritable platform for coordinating the efforts aimed at maximising the overall value of a country’s land resources. Extant studies, however, provide scanty and unorganised insight into the problems and benefits of the formal and informal land administration systems co-existing in Nigeria and how they affect physical development on land. Using a cross-sectional survey, this study investigated the benefits and problems of formal and informal land administration systems in Epe, Lagos, and ascertained the relationship between the level of land development and land occupants’ type of occupancy (which may be formal or informal). A major problem of the formal land administration system is that to be allocated land; one needs to know a government official, while its key benefit is that anyone can be allocated land anywhere irrespective of their state of origin. Under the informal land administration system, the main problem is that additional “settlement(s)” are required before one can build on the land, while its key benefit is that one purchases land in the place of one’s choice. Using logistic regression analysis, it was observed that the level of development of land is independent of the type of occupancy held by the occupant. The study concludes that formal land administration system does not necessarily lead to higher land development than informal land administration. Future land formalisation policies should seek to optimise the merits and minimise the challenges of the two systems of land administration
Editorial
Get PDFThe relaunch of the Journal of African Real Estate Research (JARER) provides an exciting new platform for the dissemination of scholarship engaged with the real estate sector in Africa. A central objective of the journal will be to convey the characteristics that define real estate markets in Africa as well as the diversity that exists within these markets. The relaunch and long-term success of JARER also reflects a long-standing objective of the African Real Estate Society – to promote research and education among property professionals across the continent..
The study of real estate in Africa offers a unique opportunity to develop a research agenda and body of knowledge that is different from those developed in more mature markets. An African-focussed real estate research agenda will need to deal with markets that are characterised by rapidly growing cities, a shortage of affordable residential and commercial space, and markets that function with relatively poor information flows. Real estate markets across the continent also reflect country-specific, historical and institutional arrangements resulting in unique market outcomes.JARER will support the development of research methodologies and theoretical perspectives that are able to provide a new insights and a deeper understanding of market realities and the different avenues that exist for the sector to play a responsible role in promoting economic development and the delivery of broader socio-economic objectives.
A further important goal of JARER will be to provide valuable resources that support academic, as well as professional researchers across the continent. In achieving this goal, the journal will play an active role in promoting inquiry into topical themes including research that is focussed on the development of real estate academic programmes in Africa. It is heartening to see the number of articles that the journal has attracted in a relatively short period of time, as well as the number of reviewers that have offered to actively participate in the journal. To ensure wide readership, the decision has been taken to make the JARER available as open access via an electronic platform hosted by the University of Cape Town.
This relaunch issue has the good fortune of showcasing a number of quality publications received from across the continent. Additionally, these papers have made valuable contributions to existing knowledge on critically important topics relating to real estate in Africa. These topics include: the role and use of technology in real estate practice, assessing real estate education at African institutions, the management of risk in real estate development in Africa, managing public housing in Ghana, Real Estate Investment Trusts and residential property in South Africa, and the challenges of land registration in Nigeria.The standard and quality of these articles highlights the excellence that already exists across the continent and shows signs of great things to come for real estate research in Africa.
The relaunch of JARER was made possible by the support of board members of the African Real Estate Society, the library services at the University of Cape Town, and Journal Manager, Luke Boyle from the Urban Real Estate Research, who has worked tirelessly in coordinating this process. Additionally, I would like to extend my gratitude to Professor Karl-Werner Schulte, and the International Real Estate Business School, who have played a consistent and invaluable role in supporting the activities of JARER over the years.
I am confident that the JARER will, in the years to come, grow from strength to strength and fill an important gap in global real estate literature.
Felician KomuEditor-in-Chie
Novel low-cost soft-tissue mannequins for medical education
Get PDFMedical simulators are used to help healthcare practitioners learn and refine skills that can only come with sustained experience and practice. However, many training mannequins currently do not simulate the feel of living tissue with sufficient fidelity. This is a drawback when a diagnosis is made through palpation, as in case of the clinical breast exam (CBE), which is in many resource-limited settings the first and only screening method available. Here we describe a novel method for generating medical simulators which are low-cost and more closely resemble living tissue.
Using commercially available silicone, a breast model was generated. The apparent stiffness was reduced by introducing voids throughout the interior of the model using the lost-wax method. Finite element modeling (FEM) was used to predict the effects of size and distribution of voids on the apparent stiffness of the prototypes. The prototypes generated through this process were evaluated by physicians trained in the CBE.
Our results show that removal of interior volumes produced softer, more pliant and therefore more life-like models when compared to commercially available devices. This was supported by FEM as well as provider assessment of the physical analogues.
We conclude that reducing the apparent stiffness by introducing voids produced simulators which better approximated the mechanical properties of live breast tissue and improved the feel of the simulator. This application of FEM offers an effective tool for low-cost and rapid prototyping, reducing cost and increasing availability in low-resource countries. This approach has the potential to improve medical education by offering a new method for modeling not only breast, but any soft tissue
Assessment of the Likelihood of Risk Occurrence on Tendering and Procurement of Construction Projects
Get PDFThe construction industry is plagued by risks above other industries due to its unique features which include the complexity of building activities, extended period of construction, complicated processes, financial intensity and dynamic organisational structure. These risks are not adequately dealt with and result in increased cost, time and reduced quality. While many types of research have been conducted on construction risks, only a few types of research have investigated the impact of risk (at tendering and procurement stage) on construction projects before they commence. Meanwhile, risk issues are better solved at bidding and procurement phase than construction phase as the case has been. Therefore, this paper examines the likelihood, degree of impact and probability of risk occurrence on tendering and procurement of construction projects. It also investigates the significant sources of tendering and procurement risks, the level of awareness and adoption of risk management techniques in construction tendering and procurement. The questionnaire for the study was administered on building contractors and consultants. A total of 44 questionnaires were retrieved and used for the analysis of the study. The statistical tools used for analysis are frequencies, percentages, mean scores and t test. The findings of the study revealed 17 significant sources of risk among the 35 that were investigated. Risks with high likelihood of occurrence, the degree of impact and high probability of occurrence were also indicated in the study. Based on the findings, it was concluded that respondents are aware and adopt risk management techniques on construction projects, but their adoption is at response level rather than identification level. Therefore, the recommendation of the study is that awareness should be created on the need for risk identification before construction projects commence. This should be implemented at professional and organizational level. Construction stakeholders should guard against risks with a high degree of impact and probability of occurrence during tendering and procurement of construction projects. Therefore, this study contributes to the body of knowledge by investigating the significant sources of risks to tendering and procurement, likelihood of risk occurrence, impact of risks and probability of risk occurrence in tendering and procurement.
Keywords: Construction projects, Cost overrun, Impact of risk, Probability of risk, Procurement, Sources of risk, Tendering and procurement
Editorial
Get PDFWelcome to the first issue of the Journal of Construction Business and Management in 2018. The themes covered in this issue are related to risk management and procurement practices used in the delivery of construction projects. These papers fill critical gaps in the knowledge and practice of construction procurement, business and project management by exposing the reader to innovative procurement systems and risk management techniques. The issue contains five articles that were written by authors based in South Africa and Nigeria. Altogether, eight authors produced these papers aimed at strengthening the discourse in and enhancing construction project procurement, business and management research.
The first paper by Ayegba investigates the duties performed by and the required competencies of management contractors, towards elucidating essential considerations for the selection and use of management contractors on construction projects. The study establishes that a management contractor's duties involve multi-tasking over the design and construction stages of a project. Paper two by Olusanya examines the influence of subcontracting systems on access to social protection measures by workers in the informal building construction sector and suggests that the government in Nigeria should advance formalization of employment in the informal sector and support community-based social insurance schemes. Dosumu's paper highlights the need to identify risks on projects before the initiation of the project based on the research findings that although stakeholders are aware and adopt risk management techniques on construction projects, the implementation is at response level rather than identification level. Paper four by Waziri identifies nine risk factors as significant contributors to the high-risk profile of Build Operate and Transfer projects and proposes that stakeholders should focus on these risk factors responsible for 80% of the risk impacts. The final paper by Anugwo, Shakantu, Saidu and Adamu suggests that a significant number of Small, Medium and Micro Enterprise (SMME) contractors in South Africa are reluctant to amplify their potential capabilities, and needed the readiness to develop international business strategies that would enable them to penetrate and participate in the South African Development Community region and global construction market. The authors recommend that both the SMME and large contractors in South Africa should harness their potential capacity towards globalizing their businesses and improving their global competitiveness.
Finally, I wish to thank all authors who submitted papers for consideration, members of the Editorial Board and Panel of Reviewers for their assistance, timeous feedback and comments that helped shape and improve the quality of the submitted manuscripts. Finally, we welcome your feedback and suggestions that will help improve the quality of the journal and maintain the integrity of the findings published
Exploring the Components of Cost on Construction Projects
Get PDFThis study examines the components of construction projects and whether there are construction resources that are the key project constituents. The rationale for the study stems from the unexplained assumptions regarding the primary components responsible for increases in construction costs in South Africa, as South Africa lacks a national building cost database. The study adopts a qualitative research approach that employs a case studies of six new and six refurbished projects in obtaining the necessary data for use in answering the study objectives. The study found that the primary cost constituents of construction projects are materials and sub-contracted work, accounting for 63.69% and 74.6% of the value of renovation and new construction work respectively and on the average, the major materials by value are reinforcement, cement and filling, while Electrical Installation is the primary sub-contracting item by value. Based on these findings, the study concludes that the future levels of construction work can be predicted knowing levels of specialist sub-contractor costs and building material costs. The study recommends that the sub-contractor and material inputs into construction projects are carefully managed, both on the projects and the construction industry, to limit construction cost increases and cost overruns on projects. The study contributes to the literature on resource planning and control in construction.
Keywords: Cement, Construction Cost, Electrical Installation, Reinforcement, Specialist Sub-contractor
Supply chain of routine orthopaedic implants in Kampala, Uganda: public-private workarounds arising from poverty and scarcity
Get PDFWe examined how surgical implants were accessed by orthopaedic trauma patients in selected public and private hospitals in Kampala, Uganda. The study employed a series of interviews with professionals highly familiar with this circumstance: orthopaedic surgeons from Mulago National Referral Hospital (MNRH), and staff of the MNRH and Ministry of Health (MOH) procurement departments. We also interviewed patients who had received implants in MNRH. Surgeons were forthcoming in describing how implants were made available to their patients and offered several opinions on implant quality, regulation, and the importance of donations in orthopaedic care. The health care officers corroborated the implant procurement process described by the surgeons. We observed that the procurement process was comprised of three distinct pathways: two pathways through which patients purchased implants either directly or through intermediaries, and one donations pathway that provided Western implants through collaborative partnerships. These pathways have evolved to circumvent the mismatch between the high cost of orthopaedic trauma surgery and the overall poverty of the population. This qualitative study strongly supports expanding the capability of the Uganda National Medical Stores (NMS), the arm of the MOH that stores and distributes medicines and supplies to public hospitals, into a sustainable source of orthopaedic implants, inclusive of improved regulatory oversight and quality control for implants
Common Fiscal pecking Cape Weaver nest
Get PDFThe Common Fiscal is known to prey on chicks from bird nests (Hockey et al. 2005), including weaver nests. It has not been recorded as predating Cape Weaver nests (HDO pers comms), but has robbed the nests of a similar weaver, the Southern Masked Weaver Ploceus velatus (Schoeman 1995). It is strange that the Common Fiscal was trying to rob green nests, i.e. no eggs or chicks expected in the nests. Invertebrates may be present on weaver nests, but the Common Fiscal did not appear to be feeding on the nests. It did not appear to be trying to steal nest material, although this is a possibility. The nest of the Common Fiscal is made of sticks, not green grass or reed blades, although aromatic herbs and other plant material is used as nest lining (Hockey et al. 2005)
A new call note for the African Rock Pipit
Get PDFThe call note of the African Rock Pipits recorded during January 2017 in the Middelburg district, Eastern Cape, represents a new vocalisation for this species which was not previously recorded