The National Construction Authority has brought the construction of 20 commercial buildings in Machakos County to a halt.
The general director of the National Construction Authority Steven Munyao Mwilu spoke after the routine inspection of the different site buildings, urging the building owners to take the initiative positively, and not misconstrue it as any sort of punishment by the association.
“I urge the owners of the construction projects that have been stopped to first adhere to the steps that should be followed before starting any commercial construction. We are not doing this to paralyze your hard work or with intentions of pulling your investments down. We perceive it as protecting citizens and owners from danger should the buildings collapsed in future. The loss then, would be incomparable.” Said Mwilu
The National Construction Authority officers toured 23 sites under construction but only 3 of the buildings in process had been cleared by the association. The area included Machakos town, Masii, Mwala and other markets within its environment.
Mwilu advised the owners who plan to start any construction process to first make sure that they clear and register with the NCA.
“Registering of a construction project with NCA is totally free so investors have no reason not to clear the construction process with them. However, there is a compulsory levy that has to be paid if the project costs more than Shs5 million, but anyone with a project costing below that amount is only expected to pay a 0.5 percent of the total project cost.”
This action comes after the incidents where collapsing building endangered people’s lives.