Kidero forms team to probe Makongeni building collapse

What you need to know:

  • More than 30 families are believed to have been living in the building which was still under construction and tenants had moved into the ground, first and second floors.
  • Three years of study on Nairobi Buildings blamed structural integrity in cases where contractors stole cement and used less steel as well as the failure to verify quality of work for the ticking time bomb.
  • The Governor’s move to constitute a team to investigate the Makongeni incident also comes in the back of a proposed law that was crafted to address the same issue.

Nairobi Governor Evans Kidero has formed a seven man team to probe the safety of buildings in the County.

In a statement to media house, the Governor has constituted a team led by the Chairman of Architectural Association of Kenya to investigate, identify policy, legislation and operations gap which may have contributed to the collapse of a building last week.

The five-storey residential building collapsed on Wednesday near the Makongeni Police Station along Jogoo Road in Nairobi.

Four people died on the way to Kenyatta National Hospital, several others were injured and others were trapped in the debris.

Six people were treated and discharged while one remains in the hospital.

More than 30 families are believed to have been living in the building which was still under construction and tenants had moved into the ground, first and second floors.

Apparently Dr Kidero had denounced a study re-published by one of the Nation Media Group Publications, the Business Daily that had suggested that most buildings in the Eastlands area could not survive an earthquake.

The report initially published by a Science Journal done by Raul Figueroa of the Carnegie and Mellon foundation indicated that 3 out of 4 buildings would sustain serious damage in the event of an earthquake.

LESS AND CEMENT AND STEEL

Three years of study on Nairobi Buildings blamed structural integrity in cases where contractors stole cement and used less steel as well as the failure to verify quality of work for the ticking time bomb.

Dr Kidero however in a post on his official Facebook account on November 27 discredited the PhD thesis stating that his office was not consulted and termed it as alarming.

“I expected the researcher to have consulted the Nairobi City County as the authority in charge of developments in the city. This article is an extract from an academic work whose objective and methodology employed is not known to us and the industry stakeholders” he posed.

The Governor’s move to constitute a team to investigate the Makongeni incident also comes in the back of a proposed law that was crafted to address the same issue.

The bill was brought to the County Assembly after frequent collapse of buildings including, the incident on Ronald Ngala in 2006, another at pipeline, Embakasi in June 2011 and the collapse in Mlolongo area in June 2012 that left several people dead.

Experts have blamed the collapse on inadequate construction material ratios, incompetent design and poor workmanships as the major causes to the death knells all which are supposed to be monitored by the county technocrats for compliance.

Nairobi City County Regularisation of Developments Bill was however only read once at the Assembly and lapsed after it went on recess before dealing with it.

If the law had come into force, all buildings constructed on road reserves, railway reserves and river beds would have been demolished in the coming one year.

The law was also targeting buildings on public land, and buildings that do not meet the standards approved by the county.

All property owners who built houses without first seeking approval from the former City Council would have six months within which to regularize their status or risk their buildings demolished.
According to City hall only 40 per cent of buildings meet the required standards.