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Kenyan capital to audit unsafe residential buildings

Xinhua, January 12, 2015 Adjust font size:

Kenya's County government of Nairobi has announced plans to carry out an inventory of poorly constructed residential apartments to avert loss of lives and property in the city.

Senior officials said Monday that the audit on unsafe high- rises will be intensified in the low-income settlements where developers have violated safety guidelines set out by the National Construction Authority.

"We are carrying out an assessment of all buildings in the densely populated parts of the city to ascertain their safety. The collapse of buildings in Makongeni and Huruma estates necessitated this move," Nairobi County Secretary, Lillian Ndegwa said.

Unscrupulous developers are to blame for mushrooming of poorly constructed residential apartments in Nairobi and its environs. In the last one month, more than 10 Kenyans lost their lives while over 40 were injured when two buildings collapsed in the low- income Nairobi suburbs of Huruma and Makongeni.

President Uhuru Kenyatta on Jan. 5 ordered government inspectors to assess the safety standards on buildings across Nairobi. Kenyatta said developers who violate building codes will be prosecuted.

The Nairobi county government has developed legal and policy tools to ensure property development pose no risk to citizens and the environment.

According to the county secretary, Nairobi has adopted best international practices to promote development of safe and ecologically friendly buildings.

"There is an urgency to reassess compliance with the building code and planning regulations in Nairobi. Safety and environmental health underpins growth of the property market in the country," said Ndegwa.

She revealed that a reconnaissance survey has been conducted to identify unsafe buildings in several parts of Nairobi. And the county government has held discussions with private developers to promote the enforcement of building regulations, and licenses for developers who put up unsafe buildings will be revoked.

"We have developed an inventory of property developers with impeccable credentials, and the unscrupulous ones will be deregistered to cushion Kenyans from untimely deaths and injuries, " Ndegwa said. Endi