More than 450 families in Nairobi County have been left homeless after the county government brought down three buildings.
Demolitions of the unsafe buildings have been going on following the April 29 collapse of a building in Huruma Estate where 51 people lost their lives.
Nairobi County lands executive Christopher Khaemba said that more than 200 residential buildings are yet to be demolished.
“It will take the next six months to demolish all the buildings. The demolition exercise is costing one million shillings every day due to the fuel for the excavators and City Hall does not have the machinery to carry out a mass demolition,” he said.
Khaemba said that the demolition team involves the ministry of Public Works, the National Youth Service and the Military in order to be provided with the necessary machinery.
Pius Masai, the Deputy Director of National Disaster Management Unit, said that the demolitions duration would depend on machinery availability.
“The affected building awareness has salvaged some of the building materials before the demolitions began,” he said.
Most of the residents in the affected areas have welcomed the demolitions arguing that peoples’ lives are more important than material things.
“The buildings should be demolished to ensure that no other incidents of a collapsed building will occur,” said Janet Kanini, a Huruma Estate resident.