Kabwata flats a ‘death trap’

RESIDENTS of Kabwata high rise flats have expressed fear over the poor state of the structures which pose a danger to their lives.
Since the sale of the flats to the sitting tenants, they haven’t been rehabilitated or serviced leading to the evident spillage of water and cracking in the structures.
National Council for Construction (NCC) plans to send building experts to evaluate the extent of the problem.

NCC executive director Charles Mushota said experts would be sent once a formal complaint was sent but that he could not ascertain the type of cracking on the structures because they had not yet carried out any physical inspection.
Mr Mushota said cracks could be categorised in two types one being cosmetic cracks and the other one structural cracks.

Mr Mushota said structural cracks were serious as they undermined the stability of the structure posing a risk to the inhabitants of the flats.
Lusaka City Council (LCC) public relations manager Mulunda Habeenzu said the property needed to be maintained and renovated by the people who had bought them and not the council.

He said the council could only move in to renovate and maintain the flats if they belonged to the local authority and not private hands.
“I would like to appeal to the tenants of the flats to liaise with their landlords over the issue of renovating the high rise flats because LCC does not own them,” he said.
Jackson Mwale a resident attributed the cracking to leakages that cause flooding and soak the walls hence the cracks.

Mr Mwale said this problem has caused a number of buildings to have serious cracks on them because the water slowly penetrates and weakens the walls.

Times of Zambia

Photo Credit – Remmy Mbuzi