Property owners ordered to get fire insurance

The Kigali City Mayor has issued a directive to all developers of public buildings to insure them against fire.In an exclusive interview with The New Times, Fidele Ndayisaba said the developers have only three months to have insured their buildings.The same directive compels developers to have fire-fighting infrastructure like fire alarms and extinguishers, among others. The renewed call comes after a series of fire outbreaks ravaged various city buildings, the latest being a city entertainment spot, Downtown, which destroyed merchandise and property worth millions of francs.“We can’t offer an occupation permit to any building in the city without fire insurance. It is strictly mandatory and we are enforcing all the owners of the buildings to install water hydrants that are compatible with fire extinguishers in case of fire outbreak,” Ndayisaba stressed.The public buildings that have been requested to abide by the move include bars, restaurants, hotels, all the commercial buildings and government premises and institutions.“The owners of private buildings have up to the end of this year to have installed all that is requested,” the mayor said.As for government facilities, Ndayisaba said the city is currently discussing with relevant institutions to include the issue in their budget for the year 2012-1013.“We have started with privately owned public complexes and we are working with security organs in enforcing this directive,” Ndayisaba disclosed.However, he said the city acknowledges the challenges of installing some facilities like water hydrants as they are imported from abroad.The city authorities couldn’t tell the number of buildings which are ensured against fire, but said they would soon embark on an exercise to ascertain the exact number of buildings that are insured.However, some restaurant owners in the city have critised police over its delay in responding to fire incidents.“The police should revise on how they can develop quick response in case of fire outbreak. They should buy new small vehicles that can easily navigate the traffic jams,” said a restaurant owner in the city who requested to remain anonymous.Most of access roads to the city are also narrow due to former haphazard planning which the current city authorities are struggling to address.Police have previously also blamed drivers who are not yet familiar with fire brigade vehicles, thus not giving them way to make timely interventions, as they do with bullion vans and ambulances.The head of the force’s fire and rescue department, Superintendent of Police Bertin Mutezintare, recently told this paper that carelessness and ignorance while handling electric power appliances accounted for most of the fires that have destroyed property and equipment.

National

Property owners ordered to get fire insurance