Relatives of the couple that succumbed under the rubble following the collapse of a Ruaka multi-storey building under construction at Old Ruaka Road on Thursday, November 17, spoke on the incident, recalling key blunders made by the contractors.
Kinuthia Karomo, the brother of the deceased couple, absolved the architects and structural engineers of any blame, claiming that they were chased after delivering their initial services.
He instead faulted the owner of the multi-storey building, claiming he ignored professional advice and instead sought the services of unqualified contractors.
His decision to put the amateurs in charge of the project deliberately endangered the lives of the construction workers and other occupants nearby.
The dismayed kin was shocked at how construction owners ignored basic construction regulations to save on cost.
A grief-stricken Karomo also shifted the blame to the use of subpar building materials, different from those recommended by professionals in the construction industry.
“The contractors used Y-12 steel reinforcement bars in place of the recommended Y-16 steel reinforcement bars, one of the sole reasons the building came tumbling down,” Karomo explained.
“The building was marked and flagged by local authorities several times before, but whenever the officials were also bribed whenever they toured the site,” Karomo confessed.
Claims of agents and local authorities being bribed to approve dismal projects were rife in the recent past after the rate of collapsing buildings increased.
“This is not the first building in Ruaka to collapse, it is around the fifth. As a building professional, I blame the owners and authorities for licensing and approving substandard projects, causing accidents like the one we are now witnessing,” Karomo complained.
Kiambu governor, Kimani Wamatangi, who was at the site during the rescue operations, disbanded the technical committee responsible for approving the construction of buildings in the county.
The tragedy occurred barely two months after a similar incident in Kirigiti near Kiambu town left five people dead.
Nairobi Governor Johnson Sakaja also reshuffled the Nairobi City County Urban Planning Technical Committee after a building under construction in Kasarani collapsed on Wednesday, November 16.
Source: kENYANS.CO.KE