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When shall we fix falling buildings?
An excavator digs up rubble from the collapsed building in search of survivors in Kiganda Zone, Kisenyi, yesterday. The owner of the building, which collapsed on Sunday afternoon, did not have any approved plans, according to KCCA. PHOTO / ISMAIL KEZAALA
What you need to know:
The issue: Substandard buildings
Our view: We cannot afford to lose lives yet we do not see action taken on perpetrators. For instance, for the Sunday incident, it may be instructive for the public to know. Who owns these structures? Who is the contractor and are they repeat offenders?
It is now a song. A building rises so fast and before it is on its feet, it crumbles like a pack of cards.
Lives are lost, leaders condemn the tragedy and life moves on. It is not entirely wild to expect another structure to fall so soon. Yet nothing seems to happen.
On Sunday, five people died and a dozen others were reported missing after a building under construction in Kisenyi, Kampala City, caved in. Just last month a five-storey structure under construction in Rubaga Division (Kitebi Bunamwaya Zone) collapsed, claiming one person.
On July 16, a storeyed building at Kabulengwa in Nansana Municipality collapsed, killing its owner. Earlier, on March 16, two people died at Fido Dido building on Kampala Road after the ceiling gave way during lunch hour prayers.
Mr Nicholas Omoding, the manager-in-charge of investigations at the National Building Review Board (NBRB), had earlier promised to investigate the incidents and find a lasting solution. We do not know what became of the probe(s) and if they would ever be made public in case they were concluded.
Our surveys before have found out that owners of collapsed buildings don’t follow the counsel of site engineers. “Clients tend to be mean when it comes to commercial buildings. They want to take shortcuts,” an engineer once told this publication.
Some developers, however, heaped the blame squarely onKampala Capital City Authority.
They claim that approval for construction plans is so tedious and takes longer than expected yet loans attract interest; sop the thirst to build quickly and start earning from the facilities forces them to cut corners.
We cannot afford to lose lives yet we do not see action taken on perpetrators. For instance, for the Sunday incident, it may be instructive for the public to know. Who owns these structures? Who is the contractor and are they repeat offenders? Who approved the building structure and have they been asked to explain? These and many more questions should be answered and the public made to know the penalties put in place. The continued collapse of buildings also taints the image of our infrastructure sector. Before long tourists might not want to visit a place where buildings are on a free fall. Safety is paramount in business and the integrity of our structures is key. It also downgrades the CV or our architects and engineers. International Organisations may not trust us fore even the simplest project. The necessary offices must, therefore, come out of hibernation, if so, and plug the holes.
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