Construction of Ruiru’s tallest building now halted over safety concerns
The county government of Kiambu has stopped construction works on the tallest building in Ruiru town after it developed a crack on the ground floor.
Kiambu County Executive in charge of lands Eunice Kamunga said the county government has also cordoned off the building to allow engineers to examine the extent of the crack.
“Preliminary investigations reveal that the crack might have been caused by the pressure of some of the facilities inside the banking hall. The building’s construction had been approved by our department and the construction was proceeding without any breach of standard regulations,” said Ms Kamunga.
On Monday, the crack caused panic amongst staff of Co operative Bank that occupies the floor leading to an early closure of the premise.
“We will remain temporarily closed to allow renovation of the building until further notice. In the interim, you may consider using any of our branch network or the nearest branches,” read a notice glued on the bank’s door.
Ms Kamunga said the building will be opened to the public after engineers conduct a structural audit of the building to determine its stability.
“We are treating this issue with the seriousness it deserves. Yesterday (Tuesday) a team of engineers from the county government and those sourced by the bank’s management assessed the building and guided by the preliminary findings we decided to stop any business from being conducted in the building until a comprehensive audit report detailing the intrinsic details of the damaged part is out,” said Ms Kamunga.
