DNK International We cant say it enough, those who endanger wananchi lives through putting up shoddy structures driven by greed must be held to account and punished accordingly.
Many recall the Nyamakima high rise building that collapsed in down town Nairobi claiming 21 lives some 10 years ago.
Ironocally,the building which had been condemned still rose from the rubble and is today a complete house.
Then greed was blamed by the developer working day and night under floodlights in a bid to finish the job as quickly if not unsafely as possible!
The developer completely ignoring the probable risk to construction workers and neighbouring buildings went on to pile concrete on one floor after another without allowing the floors time to harden their seams on the steel supports.
Infact as the building was not even halfway the owner had started displaying advertising space even claiming most of it had already been taken? Taken even before its was built eh?
At the recent collapsed South C apartment that has again brought sharp focus on building safety, there are claims Nairobi city county turned a blind eye to illegal construction of 16 stories! That they were supposed to be 9 according to a multi agency task force set up by the government that is now accusing NCC officers of sleeping on the job! Only 9 floors had been approved by the city engineer and inspectorate department that is supposed to regularly inspect ongoing work at the site.
According to the Housing cabinet secretary M/S Alice Wahome NCC officials were squarely to blame for failing to inspect, supervise and act on the building after realising the developer had cut corners to put up unauthorised additional floors with clearly shoddy structures.
Eye witnesses have recounted witnessing heavy tremor before the 16 floors caved in exposing what were clearly sub standard materials not fit for a high rise building.
It emerges that up to 7 floors were illegally added.
Wahome challenged Nairobi Governor Johnson Sakaja to crack the whip on dead wood giving the administration a bad name.
In the past,city residents remember a girls high school which collapsed in Nairobi and was discovered to have used chicken mesh instead of steel parlous to support the structure that caved in killing and injuring many.
