The Kampala Capital City Authority (KCCA) has said that it didn’t supervise works on the collapsed building in Kisenyi because it was illegal and they had notified the owners to stop construction.
“According to our records, construction works at this site did not have the requisite planning and building permissions as required by the law and were therefore illegal,” a statement from by KCCA on 6th September read in part.
“Once the structure is illegal, then it can’t be supervised by KCCA building inspectors and such works have to be stopped following protocols stipulated in the building laws.”
According to the authority, seven people were confirmed dead; 4 females and 3 males while 5 persons were rescued from the rubble with injuries and forwarded to Mulago Hospital for further treatment.
“The developer ignored KCCA instructions to halt works with the same impunity exhibited at the recent construction site collapse incident in Kitebi, Lubaga Division. These accidents could have been avoided if the developers heeded to KCCA’s directives.”
“KCCA had issued a Removal Notice, as per section 72 (1) of the Public Health Act on 30th June 2021 and an Enforcement Notice on 29th July 2021. Further inspection was made and by the end of July 2021, the structure was at the second level. By the time of the collapse, construction had proceeded despite notices served and an additional two levels had been constructed in a space of just one month,” the authority noted.
“The public should note that for any building construction works to proceed, the owner is required to secure planning permission as per the Physical Planning Act and building permission as per the Building Control Act. Once these permissions are secured, then KCCA building inspectors monitor the construction activities to ensure compliance with the relevant building codes and that appropriately qualified staff are running the site,” the statement reads.
Many times these accidents are attributed to employment of unqualified personnel, use of poor work methods, poor materials, inadequate designs, inadequate supervision, short breaks between constructions to allow concrete to set, inadequate ground conditions etc.
