<doc7771|left>A month ago or so, [I wrote an article in Iwacu (French version)->http://iwacu-burundi.org/spip.php?article4764] in relation to fire breakouts and buildings collapsing in East Africa. There were mixed reactions towards the article. Some agreed with my point of view that there should be a catastrophes’ regulatory body in the East African Community (EAC) while some argued that it is normal to have them and that they are part of our daily life.
Only during this month, two more catastrophes were registered in our lovely sub-region (EAC). A big supermarket in Rwanda, Simba Supermarket caught fire and all its products were reduced to ashes. In Tanzania, a building collapsed in Dar-es-Salaam killing at least 20 people and wounding many. By press time, there were people still missing and the death toll was expected to rise. These two events come to strengthen my point that something needs to be done before more lives are lost. The current situation is what Martin Luther King Jr. called “The fierce urgency of now”.
Not just criticize; here are my suggestions about this regrettable situation. Via the EAC secretariat coordination, all the five governments need to conduct regular and unannounced checks of safety in all buildings especially those used for businesses and public events. I do not want to think what may happen if anything goes wrong at a stadium during a football match, a political meeting or a church gathering. The checks should look at things like electrical connection, maintenance routines and safety plans, the availability of firefighting material and their state because only having them is not enough. They must be functional.
During constructions, local authorities should make sure the submitted plans are respected. It has mostly come out that universal norms are not respected during constructions. This leads to unsafe buildings, which end up collapsing. Architects who are in charge of the construction activities should sign a document where they attest having respected all the norms so that they can be held accountable if anything of negligence or deliberate omission appears later.
Otherwise, we will always cry for those who have died or for the lost items without being able to change the situation. It is our responsibility to lobby our governments to set up such a body or improve the existing ones since they have shown some weaknesses when it comes to firefighting and buildings safety monitoring. With our (governments and us) efforts combined we can see a safer East Africa where a lot of opportunities exist.
__________________
Political analyst and news commentator
