Flattening of condemned houses set to start
Members of the public at the scene where a building collapsed in Huruma, Nairobi, on May 5, 2016. Most of the buildings set to be demolished are in Huruma. PHOTO | NATION MEDIA GROUP
What you need to know:
- The buildings would be demolished regardless of whether the owners moved to court.
- The buildings were identified following inspection by experts last year, with findings showing that the foundations of some buildings were not built according to prescribed standards.
The demolition of condemned houses identified by the Public Works department is to begin Friday, starting with nine out of the total 226.
The areas targeted include Umoja, Dagoretti, Zimmerman, Marurui, Hazina, South B, Huruma, Roysambu, Githurai, and Kahawa West estates.
Most of the buildings are in Huruma estate, where an apartment complex collapsed last week.
Among the affected are 19 houses in Hazina that were developed by the National Social Security Fund.
The buildings, according to Public Works Principal Secretary Paul Mwangi, had either been built on unsafe grounds, for instance located near rivers, built with poor-quality materials or were not approved by the construction authority.
“We have marked the buildings that we will demolish in succession starting Friday and we already issued notices of vacation to the tenants,” Mr Mwangi said.
The buildings would be demolished regardless of whether the owners moved to court, he said.
On Wednesday, Mr Mwangi said a total of 70 buildings in Huruma alone were unfit for occupation and had to be demolished as they were likely to collapse and kill occupants.
Mr Mwangi, who was speaking at the site of the building that collapsed in Huruma, said two of the targeted buildings were in Mathare and a five-storey residential complex in Hamza.
The buildings were identified following inspection by experts last year, with findings showing that the foundations of some buildings were not built according to prescribed standards.
In others, the walls below ground, commonly referred to as the substructure, were lying on hardcore instead of reinforced concrete strip footings — implying that the technical specifications were not adhered to.
Others had poor-quality concrete, with specifications for a good mix not being followed, while some buildings did not have quality reinforcement bars.
The demolitions will be carried out by a joint team from the Land ministry, Nairobi County, the National Construction Authority, and the Office of the President.
