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As buildings collapse, claiming lives, Tanzania's president blames corrupt procurement and tendering process - a problem even though Tanzania is member of Construction Sector Transparency Initiative.
Tragedies resulting from the collapse of multistorey skyscrapers in Tanzania are all too common and likely to keep occurring if the government does not curb corruption in the booming construction industry.
Memories are fresh in the minds of many residents of Tanzania’s commercial capital Dar es Salaam of a 14-storey building that collapsed on March 28, killing more than 36 people and crushing several cars.
The building was being constructed under a joint scheme between a private investor and the public agency, the National Housing Corporation. Although the commission of enquiry formed to investigate has yet to finalise its work, rumours are already swirling across the city that corruption and professional negligence are to blame.
According to observers, some of the iron bars found lying in the rubble were made of fake materials imported from Asian countries.
President Jakaya Kikwete, who has seen a myriad of such accidents under his leadership, has said he is deeply troubled by the loss of life and the destruction of property. He was at the scene when the injured were being taken to hospital during rescue operation, but he certainly knows that corruption in the construction industry is at the root of these miseries.
In one recent speech, the president said: “Procurement and tendering processes in the construction sector are full of corruption… and the main pioneers of these malpractices are construction professionals and companies.”
There is no doubt that professional integrity among engineers and contractors is being compromised when developers choose substandard materials in order to minimize building costs.
“A building collapses mostly due to contractors’ negligence and owners preferring cheap materials which cannot sustain the foundation,” says Stephen Mlote of the Engineering Registration board.
INVESTIGATIONS IGNORED
The Tanzanian government is quick to form an investigative team after each building collapse, but very often the findings are either ignored or shelved, waiting for another disaster to unfold.
In 2006, a three-storey building collapsed in the outskirts of Dar es Salaam, injuring several people. The team formed by then-Prime Minister Edward Lowassa to investigate recommended that all high-rise buildings be inspected, but no such inspection took place.
Two years later, a 10-storey building collapsed in the city centre, injuring scores of people. Yet another team was formed to investigate the mayhem, but the findings never came out.
According to Byabato Kamugisha, an architect and scholar at Ardhi University in Dar es Salaam, the building collapses in Tanzania are most likely caused by structural failure since the government does not have a special building inspectorate.
When designing a building and before starting construction, soil and land have to be investigated, as well as water volume, materials and professional personnel, he was quoted as saying in a local newspaper.
“People must avoid cheap building materials and black markets that sell stolen and unlabelled materials,” he said.
MOST CORRUPT FIRMS WIN
The government has on many occasions admitted that most construction projects were below standard due to corruption - a situation that poses a threat to people’s lives and to the economy since growth depends on the performance of the construction sector.
President Kikwete, for example, has said corruption is so endemic that public tenders are not won by the most competent firms but by the most corrupt.
When Tanzania joined the Construction Sector Transparency initiative, most players in the industry rejoiced.
Five years on, corruption remains widespread. Although the country’s anti-corruption watchdog - the Prevention and Combating of Corruption Bureau - and other regulatory bodies are trying to fight graft in the sector, shoddy workmanship is still a prominent feature in most projects.
Critics think that the registration boards for engineers and contractors have failed because unqualified people perform these jobs in many building projects. These “fake” engineers and contractors operate with impunity, doing shoddy work, knowing that they can hide behind someone else’s back when their illegal dealings turn sour.
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