The Nairobi County Government has started demolishing condemned buildings in the city.
On Wednesday, excavators and bulldozers pitched camp in Zimmerman estate, Roysambu Constituency in Nairobi where one of the condemned buildings, four-storied was brought down.
The demolition is being conducted by the county’s inspectorate department in conjunction with the National Construction Authority (NCA)-body mandated to certify the quality of buildings in the country.
Nairobi Governor Mike Sonko said his administration will ensure all condemned buildings in the city are brought down because they pose great danger to unsuspecting tenants.
“My administration in conjunction with other government agencies has enhanced the demolition of condemned buildings in Nairobi. As promised, all sub-standard buildings earmarked for demolition in the city will be brought down to avert disasters as recently witnessed in Ruai,” he wrote on his twitter page on Wednesday.
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“Today, the demolition exercise is happening in Zimmerman estate, Roysambu constituency. The exercise will be extended to other estates in Nairobi from tomorrow,” he added.
This comes a few days after a three-storey building collapsed in Ruai on Saturday.
The ill-fated building named Mombasa Ndogo served as a lodging.
Patrick Mbucha, from the Ministry of Housing said the building did not follow construction rules and that sub-standard materials were used.
“The building was hastily done using sub-standard materials. The owner was in hurry to meet the high demand for the houses,” said Mbucha.
In January, two people lost their lives after a building under construction in Embakasi’s Pipeline estate caved in.
NCA has since released a list of 204 houses within Nairobi that should be demolished as they are unsafe for residency.
Out of the 204 condemned houses in Nairobi, 58 of these houses are in Huruma estate.
The others are spread across Dagoreti, Umoja, Zimmerman, Pipeline, Embakasi, Thika Road and South B.