Following the increasing number of collapsing buildings registered in Kampala, RX Radio presenter Olive Najjuma revealed that she feels unsafe walking through shopping malls in downtown Kampala.
“I feel insecure walking through buildings downtown Kampala. I only feel safe while in buildings like Acacia mall and Village mall because in those malls, you can recognize the excellent workmanship whereas when you go downtown, the tiles are shaky, the pillars look weak, burglars want to give away and KCCA keeps saying it called for the construction to stop,” Olive submitted.
Her comments follow public complaints about Kampala Capital City Authority’s negligence that led to the collapse of one of the buildings under construction in the city. The fallen building in Mbiro, Kisenyi, killed one and left others injured last week.
Residents made reports to the media about KCCA’s reluctance when they called for its intervention in the illegal excavation at the site but never responded until the building collapsed.
She added that if the collapse was a segregated case, KCCA would be excused but the threat of collapsing buildings always happens and takes lives.
Partly to her, the negligence of KCCA rotates around unqualified people constructing buildings and mushrooming buildings constructed in Kampala suburbs within weeks.
Quoting the unsatisfying KCCA’s argument that such constructions are usually ordered to stop, Olive wished KCCA would monitor and evaluate the status of the sites other than sitting back as buildings harm citizens.
“They should apply the same energy used to chase street vendors and hawkers off Kampala streets to supervise those buildings,” Olive suggested.
James Onen, the other show co-host, believed a number of buildings are standing without the standards they are supposed to meet.
The Fatboy show is hosted by James Onen aka Fatboy, Olive, and Sarah every weekday from 6 am to 10 am on RX Radio.