Demolition of six condemned buildings in Huruma to start on Tuesday

Rescuers and volunteers search for survivors at the collapsed Huruma building on May 3
Rescuers and volunteers search for survivors at the collapsed Huruma building on May 3

The demolition of six buildings next to the one that collapsed in Huruma estate two weeks ago will commence on Tuesday next week.

In a statement on Saturday, Nairobi County Executive in charge of Lands Christopher Khaemba said that an elaborate plan on the demolition will be shared on Tuesday morning.

Nairobi Governor Evans Kidero had on May 7 suspended the demolition of houses unfit for habitation in Huruma for a period of seven days to give affected tenants ample time to seek alternative accommodation.

The grace period will lapse on Tuesday and demolitions are expected to start immediately.

Five people who were charged over the collapsed Huruma building that claimed 51 lives and injured scores of others were on May 7 released on Sh1 million bond each.

The suspects are brothers Samuel Kamau and Henry Muiruri, Crispus Ndinyo, Justus Kathenge and Seline Ogallo.

The five were ordered to surrender their passports and report to the CID headquarters once a week as investigations are conducted.

The National Construction Authority on May 5 released a list of 204 unsafe residential buildings that were earmarked for demolition in the city.

The list, released by chief executive Daniel Manduku, came just a week after the collapse of the six-storey building in Huruma.

The buildings to be demolished are in Dagoretti, Umoja, Thika Road, South B, Zimmerman and Huruma.

Huruma has the highest number of condemned buildings at 58, followed by Zimmerman with 28.

In South B, 19 houses in Hazina Estate, owned by the National Social Security Fund managers, are also said to be at risk of demolition.

The rampant collapse of buildings in the city has been blamed on lack of coordination among regulatory bodies that oversee different segments of the sector.

Apart from the National Construction Authority, other regulators include the Engineers Board of Kenya and the Board of Registration of Architects and Quantity Surveyors.

The 47 county governments are also involved in the approval and issuing of physical planning permits to contractors.

Cases of buildings collapsing while still under construction have been rife in recent years.

Several buildings collapsed last year prompting President Uhuru Kenyatta to order an audit to be conducted in several estates.

It covered Eastlands, Dagoretti, Kasarani, Zimmerman, Roysambu, Githurai, Garden Estate, Thome, and Kilimani.

The report concluded that buildings collapse because of poor quality of concrete, lack of proper foundation and use of substandard building stones.

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