Kasarani building owner finds a clever way to ease fears on stability
A desperate owner of a condemned building has resorted to pinning a newspaper cutting to convince Kasarani residents that it is not collapsing.
The building under construction in Spring Estate was last week declared unsafe by engineers from the National Construction Authority (NCA) over safety concerns. The engineers even marked it as condemned.
This was after a neighbouring six-storey building was vacated after its column buckled. City Hall has since clarified that the building is not collapsing.
“We are carrying out investigation on the integrity of the building as it seems that the cracked pillar was not in the original design but an afterthought, the other columns look okay but will wait for the audit report,” said Nairobi urban planning chief officer Justus Kathenge, according to a story published on Daily Nation newspaper.
But the owner of the neighbouring building under construction is not taking chances.
She has cut out the newspaper cutting on the story and prominently plastered it next to the NCA enforcement notice at the gate, attracting passersby.
“I was just reading this article and found that it is about the building that was vacated and not this one whose construction was stopped,” said a resident who was standing at the gate.
NCA officials during the operation said a report will be compiled by a team drawn from various agencies.
The authority’s Eng Crispus Ndinyo said it is after the report is compiled that the recommendations will be given as to whether the buildings are safe.
“A team drawn from the various agencies will conduct some tests and a report will be compiled with recommendations as to what needs to be done before it is cleared for occupation,” he said.