Chronicle Editor
Vusumuzi Dube, Senior Reporter
MHLAHLANDLELA Government Complex, which houses most Government offices, including that of the Minister of State for Bulawayo Provincial Affairs, is among a number of major buildings in Bulawayo that have been condemned by the city’s fire department and declared prone to fire.
It also emerged that some of the buildings had last serviced their fire prevention systems 29 years ago. According to a performance audit of the city’s fire prevention services, a majority of public buildings were now at high fire risk. Apart from Mhlahlandlela Government Complex other buildings that have been condemned in the city include Zimpost, the Registrar-General’s office and the Zimbabwe Revenue Authority.
“A site visit to Government departments revealed that Zimpost last serviced fire extinguishers in 1991, Registrar offices, Mhlahlandlela Complex and Zimra in November 2016. In addition, from a sample of 25 lodges and guesthouses, 92 percent showed non-compliance to building by-laws by not being in possession of valid public building certificates. Some of these lodges have illegal thatched structures which have been constructed without seeking prior council approval, and thereby contravening Building as well as Fire by-laws,” reads part of the report.
The report noted that more buildings in the city could be at risk of fire as council officials only inspected 170 public buildings out of a possible 10 000. On the failure to inspect properties the audit uncovered that due to archaic by-laws, there were some buildings which were still not classified as public buildings hence were not being inspected by council officials.
The city’s inspectorate conducts buildings inspections in accordance with the Bulawayo (Building, Roads and Streets) by-laws of 1971. The by-law lists public buildings to include; cinemas, public halls, music halls and exhibition rooms.
“The said by-law is not in sync with the Urban Councils Act, which expanded the definition of a public building to encompass colleges, schools, universities, daycare centres, halls, lecture halls, churches, mobile cellular halls, malls, hospitals, children and old people’s homes and entertainment buildings of any kind. The city by-laws, therefore appear to be outdated.
“The division inspected, on average, a total of 170 public buildings against a probable 10 000 inspectable properties. Further, because the division makes visits to the same buildings every year, the vast majority (about 94 percent) of inspectable buildings in the city have never been inspected at all raising serious concerns about the effectiveness of the fire prevention programme,” reads the report.
The audit also discovered that council did not have a proper database of all inspectable buildings, with the available information not being current, accurate and complete. This means the fire division is not in a position to properly manage its inspection exercise.
In terms of human resources, the audit noted that there was a gross mismatch between the workload and personnel employed in the department, which was resulting in the ineffectiveness that was being experienced in the department. Only three individuals are reportedly tasked with the inspection of all properties in the city. According to the report, the local authority also noted a rise in illegal Liquid Petroleum (LP) gas retailers, which was further exposing the city to possible uncontrolled fire outbreaks.
“There is an increase in illegal retailers of LG gas that have sprouted around the city, and despite LP gas being highly flammable and capable of causing fatal explosion. It is being sold at undesignated open-air stalls thus increasing the risk of potential damage to property and safety of the general public. The fire prevention division has prompted the need to intensify fire prevention activities so as to control the fire risks likely to occur due to the highly inflammable gas. On a regular basis, the division conducts patrols to curb the illegal vending, however, the patrols have not been effective because there is no follow up,” reads the report. – @vusadb
Online Reporter