adminSydney Kawadza Senior Feature Writer
Sometime in August 2012, the Harare City Council launched a blitz that condemned various buildings for flouting health and fire safety standards. Council declared the high-rise buildings unsafe or unfit for human use. The buildings, the departments said, violated several city by-laws by posing a danger to occupants and the general public. The condemned buildings are Robin House, Dublin House, Daventry House, Stewart and Lloyds, Bush House, Roslin House, Msasa House, Mahachi Quardum Building and Winston House.
However, four years down the line the buildings are still open with conditions now apparently worse than those that council had condemned. For the self-employed residents of the condemned buildings, life goes on. “I have been in this building for two years and I have never heard any complaints about the state of the building. Yes, there are facilities such as toilets, ceilings and sinks that we would want to be repaired but that is not our concern,” a tailor named Jefta said.
Jefta is one of several tenants of Robin House who are engaged in various activities including cellphone repairs, laptop trading, tailoring and several other trades. Mrs Anna Chimiro, who operates from Daventry House said most of the buildings were overcrowded because they are cheap. “People operating from here have sub-divided and partitioned the rooms so that they can share the rental burden and it is viable for business as we try to optimise on our activities,” she said.
Thomas Mhloba, who repairs cellphones and other electronic goods, accused building owners of neglecting them. “Most of these buildings are run by estate agents and even if we have complaints we do not know who to face. So we also share the rentals and no-one asks questions,” he said. The buildings have at least 200 people each.
In condemning the buildings, council took note of some buildings have been renovated to accommodate restaurants and clothing shops. Fire Brigade Divisional Officer Mr Mark Kutyauripo back then told reporters that some of the buildings had been shut during Operation Murambatsvina. “They were, however, reopened without compliance and are still a high risk.”
The non-compliant buildings had been condemned for lacking such facilities as ventilation systems and exit or emergency doors or escape routes in the event of a fire. An urban planner, speaking on conditions of anonymity for professional reasons, said some of the high rise buildings were old, posing danger to the general public. “These buildings are a ticking time bomb. In the event of a fire no one will survive.
“This is not the first time council has condemned these buildings as some of them were condemned as far back as 2009, but they defy authorities and continue to operate.” Proprietors seem to have ignored letters ordering their buildings to be closed. Some of the dangerous buildings have certificates to operate issued by the Town Planning department, Fire Brigade as well as the City Health department.
The fact that some of the proprietors have these certificates vindicates claims that Harare City Council officials are corrupt. The Fire Brigade and the Town Planning Department are responsible for licensing of shops as they are the major stakeholders who look at the structure from foundation to roof level whereas the City Health Department only looks at ventilation, cleanliness, toilets and kitchens.
The Fire Brigade and Town Planning check on the quality of material used during construction, escape routes, lighting, ventilation, the integrity of a building, quality of engineering approved through the Building Inspectorate and Engineering Section.
Experts have also noted that the subdivisions in most of these buildings grossly violated city by-laws. They also blamed corruption in the issuance of licences, calling for thorough investigations into the process. Zimbabwe Institute of Rural and Urban Planners president Mr Percy Toriro said local authorities were responsible for safety issues in any city in the world.
“One critical public safety issue is fire prevention. More than putting out fires, the authorities are also responsible for ensuring that all buildings and operations comply with relevant standards.
“These are standards that ensure ease of management of a potential fire hazard.” Mr Toriro said residents expected the city authorities to diligently do this because fire is a life and death issue that cannot be taken lightly.
“While admittedly we are going through difficulties as a result of the underperforming economy, we urge fire authorities not to compromise on these standards. “It is better in this instance to be ‘cruel in order to be kind’ because once a fire breaks out in any of those buildings, the public will still blame them,” he said.
Harare City Council principal communications officer Mr Michael Chideme said the municipality was on top of the situation. “We have issued the owners of those buildings abatement orders that stipulate that they should work on the defects or shortcomings that have been noted by our officers on those buildings.
“We have also made regular checks on these buildings and if you have gone there you will notice that where some buildings did not have fire extinguishers or hose reels, these have since been installed in compliance of our follow-ups and regular checks,” he said.
Mr Chideme said the city had by-laws that gives them the right to close those buildings if they were not maintained or fire and health safety standards were not followed. There has been a general outcry that council has turned a blind eye while many buildings have been renovated and converted to accommodate business that they are not meant for.
The buildings that council is monitoring accommodate more than 8 000 people involved in various trades and activities.
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