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a 21-day ultimatum to comply with the city’s health and fire safety standards.
Failure to meet the deadline will see over 7 000 tenants being kicked out of the buildings.
Although city spokesperson Mr Leslie Gwindi could not be reached for comment yesterday, Fire Brigade Divisional Officer Mr Mark Kutyauripo, confirmed the development.
He said it was a joint operation involving city health, building inspectorate and fire departments.
Mr Kutyauripo said the owners should repair vandalised fire equipment and clear blocked escape routes, while the health department wanted all sanitary facilities opened.
The buildings inspectorate would be checking on the actual building structures.
“We have started serving the owners of the buildings with notices to comply within 21 days or risk their buildings being shut down,” he said.
“If there is no compliance, we will engage the police who will assist us in closing down those buildings,” Mr Kutyauripo said.
One of the letters served by the fire department to the Zimbabwe Electronic Commission Building, formerly Mahachi Quardum Building along Nelson Mandela
Avenue, stated that the owners should provide fire escape from the top floor to ground floor, install 1x 9-litre water type and 1×2,7 carbon dioxide fire extinguishers on each wing.
The letter also noted that the high-rise building should display fire exit points on all sides, service all fire equipment, stop stocking cleaning kits in fire hose reel cabinets and to replace all missing fire extinguishers.
Meanwhile, police have said their duty was not to evict tenants or close down buildings, but to assist when invited.
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“We only come in to assist the Messenger of Court to evict anyone when we are invited,” Harare provincial police spokesperson Chief Inspector James Sabau said.
The 10 high-rise buildings in central Harare were condemned as unsafe or unfit for human use by the Harare fire and city health departments last month.
The departments say the buildings do not meet health and fire safety standards.
The buildings, the departments say, violate several city by-laws and are 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, Winston House and Vivandelphi Court, a flats complex in Eastlea.
Most of the properties are high rise buildings and house more than 800 business tenants each.
Tenants interviewed expressed mixed feelings over the city’s move, with some condemning their landlords for not taking the matter seriously.
“We pay huge amounts in rentals but they don’t care about the state of buildings. If you check some of our toilets are not functional and we have to go to other buildings,” a disgruntled tenant said.
Another one said landlords were milking them because of the failure by authorities to develop the city.
“The local authority has failed us because if you visit countries such as China, you cannot tell the difference between a flea market and a shop. They have managed to design their buildings in a way that each trader has a small shop but operating in the same building,” the tenant said.
Others also echoed similar sentiments for Government to intervene and address the situation.
“We have families to feed and once our landlords fail to comply, we will be forced out and we will be out of business,” another tenant said.
Online Reporter