Hajji Abdul Kayiwa, the owner of the building in Kitebi, Lubaga Division that collapsed on Tuesday and killed 1 person, while others remained trapped in the debris, disregarded KCCA orders to discontinue construction in March this year.
According to a letter from KCCA which was served to Mr Kayiwa on 25th March, the Physical Planner attached to Lubaga Division halted the construction of the building which was at that time on the second floor.
The letter which this website has obtained shows that the building didn’t have a permit and the contractor used a plan which had not been approved by Kampala Capital City Authority (KCCA).
“Therefore, this building was illegal,” said an official.
We have also learnt that the owner of the building at first complied with KCC directives and suspended construction from March until when the President instituted the lockdown.
“In the President’s directives, all government institutions were urged to remain with 10% of the staff and others work from home to observe SOPs. Therefore, the physical planner in charge of Lubaga was among those who were sent home and supervision in the field lessened,” said an official.
Against that backdrop, Hajji Kayiwa used that vacuum to resume construction. The workers at the site could work even at night.
By the time the 42 days of lockdown ended, the building had reached the 5th floor.
By building at night, and also adding more 3 floors in 42 days, it is likely that the engineer couldn’t observe the required construction standards, which explains its collapse.
Hajji Kayiwa and contractor are still at large.
Five people are said to have been sleeping in the said building, according to residents. These were finishing the structure.
“We thought it was an earthquake but only to wake up, the building had collapsed,” said one of the residents.
The scene was visited by police and a team from the National Building Review Board (NBRB) led by their investigations officer, Eng Solomon Balemeezi.
“The National Building Control Act 2013 specifically stipulates the punishment for whoever is liable. Our Team is already on ground to assess the cause of the accident. We shall keep you updated,” he said.