Recent PhD study confirms building collapse disasters in Kenya

Author Reference

Benard., L., (2014): Recent PhD study confirms building collapse disasters in Kenya Intel Fire Group Blog. Nairobi, Kenya.

  

Recent PhD study confirms building collapse disasters in Kenya

 

 

Kenya has been recently experiencing disasters that involve building collapsing mainly in sub-urban areas of its Capital with the recent one being the Huruma building that collapsed and killed 5 and left 38 others nursing injuries. This is coming to pass for a study conducted by Raul Figueroa who is a PhD student at Carnegie Mellon University that indicated that three out of four buildings in Nairobi would be seriously damaged in the event of a major earthquake. The study which stressed on the seriousness of the problem in the less affluent areas of Nairobi, found out that the quality of construction work is poor across the city and that most concrete used lacked the required comprehensive strength.

That was Raul’s study which was for academic purposes but clearly addressed the needs of the society for quality and transparency in the construction industry. As of all academically researched studies, this study has both findings and the recommendations based on its hypothesis but again one cannot fail to understand why the media selectively picked the findings and made screaming headlines and conveniently failed to mention the recommendations. The Medias’ only conclusive solution suggests that a consortium of the researcher through his institution Carnegie Mellon University, the NCA, Strathmore University, Hass Consult, Architectural Association of Kenya, the Kenya Property Developers Association and the design firm Questworks Ltd are forming an advisory board that will come up with better formula for auditing buildings. This is a good idea but, is it all inclusive so that the advisory opinions are taken seriously and internalized by implementers?

The answer will be a strong NO if the major player in the city construction industry is not involved in decision making processes that will affect their operations. And in any way the research had its recommendations and if this was one of the recommendations then it failed to be all inclusive as it does not includes the Nairobi County Government either directly or through a representative as an interested party in the advisory board. The work played by the Nairobi County Government in building construction should not be ignored in trying to find a solution to disasters that involves building collapsing. The fire department of the City County Government is in charge of building inspections to ensure they conform to fire safety standards and other major risks. It is for this reason that building owners are required by by-laws of the city county government to acquire fire safety certificate of occupancy upon inspection of the building by the fire brigade and subsequent approval.

It can also be argued that in the view of conflict on interest in making decisions the research suggests a transparent advisory board. This also must outline the factors that define the conflict and the interested parties must be aware of their partisanship. The study by Mr. Raul, if he not yet confirmed Dr. Raul, is one that has confirmed the fears of many not only in the City of Nairobi, but in an environment where trust, integrity and accountability issues are neglected.

The Author is a PhD Projects Management student, JKUAT focusing on fire service delivery