Four-storey building demolished in Zimmerman over cracks
More than 400 buildings in Nairobi are unsafe for habitation and will be demolished, the government has warned.
According to the National Buildings Inspectorate, (NBI) National Construction Authority (NCA) and Nairobi county government, 217 out of 471 condemned buildings are marked “very dangerous” and will be brought down soon.
The demolition began on Wednesday with a four-storey building in Zimmerman, Roysambu.
Chief Government Quantity Surveyor and NBI Secretary Moses Nyakiongora said the building had developed cracks, posing a danger to its occupants and neighbouring houses.
He said it was built in a swampy area, and that its foundation had started sinking.
Tenants vacated the building late last year after NBI officials marked it for demolition.
The building is said to be owned by six people, two of whom still live there. On Wednesday morning, police evicted the two before the building was brought down.
A multi-agency team carrying out the operation is today scheduled to bring down another four-storey building in Zimmerman before moving to Kariobangi, where three buildings are marked for demolition, Huruma and Mathare, where six buildings will be demolished.
“Prevention is better than cure. Cases of collapsing buildings have been on the rise in recent years and demolishing unsafe buildings is one of the ways to avert deaths from such incidents,” Nairobi Governor Mike Sonko said.