20 October 2009
editorial
Nairobi — All mayors, town clerks, engineers, architects, planners and other officials who allow developers to get away with murder, literally, should also be in the dock when any criminal charges are filed.
Construction workers lost their lives and others suffered severe injuries when yet another building under construction came tumbling down.
The real tragedy of the Kiambu incident is that it was not the first building to collapse in recent times. Nairobi's chaotic concrete jungle of unplanned and uncontrolled development has suffered a growing number of building disasters, and so have other urban areas.
We must address why such tragedies occur in the first place.
Other than by the force of natural calamities such as earthquakes, buildings collapse because they have been poorly constructed. Developers will often be tempted to save money by engaging unqualified contractors and skimping on materials.
They will only be able to take such fatal and expensive shortcuts because the authorities charged with ensuring compliance to building standards are lax, corrupt and incompetent.
The developers responsible for each incident must face the full force of the law, but if the trend is to be arrested, those who bear ultimate legal responsibility must also be called to account.
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