[EDITORIAL] Construction safety is not something to be ignored

New buildings are sprouting up in Kigali and other major towns at an incredible speed. They are changing the landscape in such a way that it takes one to leave the city for a few days to find astounding changes. But that, it seems, has taken building regulators by surprise and coping has become an issue. Construction of some buildings has been halted amid allegations that they flouted many regulations, that range from the safety of construction workers to unqualified personnel. But why does a building come up to several storeys high before authorities realise that it does not meet standards? It beats logic that one can start putting up a huge building on the main arteries of the city – without having all the necessary paperwork, as regulators allege – before it is noticed? Someone definitely has been sleeping on the job and now some ardent investor might see billions turning into dust. The speed by which building permits are issued is one of the factors that count in gauging how a country is conducive in improving its doing business environment. However, dishing out building permits at the expense of safety and investments is not the way to go and the One-Stop-Centres need to straighten up. A viral video doing the rounds on the internet of a prominent building that houses several government offices which shows wear and tear hardly two years in operation, should be an eye opener. We do not have to wait until disaster strikes before safety is taken seriously. With this region prone to periodic earth tremors, we could be sitting on a time bomb.

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[EDITORIAL] Construction safety is not something to be ignored