Rapid population growth is leading to an increase in demand for housing.
This is more pronounced in urban areas occasioned by rural-urban migration.
The surging demand has attracted many investors to venture into the real estate business.
This has led to the proliferation of unscrupulous investors kin on making more money.
Some of the buildings constructed don’t meet safety standards set by the National Construction Authority.
According to a report by the authority, 700 buildings in Kenya are ticking time bombs.
The study, which was conducted in 2018, sampled 14,895 buildings.
The report found 10,791 buildings to be unsafe.
It recommended destruction of the same or reinforcement before habitation.
The study found 1,217 buildings to be fair and only 2,194 were found to be safe for occupation.
Many unapproved buildings the report shows are at risk of collapsing.
A few days ago a five-storied building that hosts a Sun Star Hotel in Kandara Muranga, collapsed.
The building was still under construction and NCA cites poor workmanship as the main cause of the accident.
This only adds to a list of many such incidents that have hit the country in the recent past.
According to the Institute of Quantity Surveyors of Kenya, the country has lost over 200 lives and thousands of others injured since 1990.
The institute says Sh2.4 billion investments have been lost.
We need to find a way to avert the worrying trend.
This can only be achieved once we know the root cause of the recurrent accidents.
In 2015, President Uhuru Kenyatta commissioned an audit of buildings in Nairobi.
From the audit, only 42 per cent of those audited were found to be fit for occupation.
The report noted the main causes of the collapse of buildings in the city.
This is a true reflection of the state of affairs in other parts of the country.
The causes were the use of unqualified labour,sub-standard materials, poor structural designs, weak foundations and greed for wealth and corruption, among other issues.
Those charged with approval of the structural plans and bills of quantity are bribed to look the other way, resulting in the construction of substandard buildings.
In some instances, the culprits – owners of the ill-fated buildings circumvent justice making it hard for authorities to go after them.
For instance, some have gone to courts to seek an injunction once their buildings were earmarked for demolition after being rendered unfit for habitation.
We can find a permanent solution to the tragedies.
The national construction authority lacks enough power to deal with rogue developers. Parliament should enact legislation to give the authority power to bring down buildings considered unfit for occupation.
Citizens should shun buildings considered unfit for habitation.
There have been cases where NCA has declared some buildings unfit for occupation yet some tenants still occupy them. Hence, posing a danger to their lives.
The tragedies lead to loss of lives and an adverse impact on the economy.
Hence, the government should be at the forefront in fighting rogue developers.
Such individuals should be apprehended and arraigned to serve as a deterrent to potential culprits.
Owners of the buildings should carry out regular maintenance on their developments to avert possible danger in future.
Regular inspections should be done to mop out unsafe buildings. This will eventually weed out substandard buildings and help save lives and the economy.
Edited by Kiilu Damaris
