Owner of ill-fated Dar tower gives himself up; Kova says he’s being questioned

By Mkinga Mkinga

Saturday, 30 March 2013 19:56

President Jakaya Kikwete at the scene of the disaster yesterday. Right is Dar es Salaam police boss Suleiman Kova. PHOTO | FIDELIS FELIX The Citizen Reporter Dar es Salaam. The owner of the ill-fated building that crashed on Friday, killing scores of people, yesterday surrendered to the Dar es Salaam Special Zone Police Commander, Mr Suleiman Kova. Police had ordered him to surrender. Mr Ali Radha presented himself as police were still searching for a role in the tumbling of the 16-storey building. Mr Kova confirmed to The Citizen on Sunday that Mr Radha was in police custody, pending further legal actions after the interrogation is completed. “It’s true that he has surrendered…he will be interrogated since he is the owner of the collapsed building,” Kova said. The building, near Shia Ithnasheri Mosque, along Indira Gandhi Street, collapsed around 8.30am, according to the police boss. Meanwhile, an eyewitness residing in the neighbourhood said he looked outside a window after sensing a tremor, and saw the under construction building tumbling down. The disaster has revived bitter memories of the 2008 incident involving a 10-storey building which crumbled along Mtendeni Street in the city centre, in which two people died and several others were injured. The RC ordered that construction work on the building opposite the collapsed one be stopped. It was being undertaken by the same contractor, Lucky Construction Limited. The ill-fated building is a joint project between the National Housing Corporation (NHC) and MS Ladha Construction Limited under Public Private Partnership (PPP). NHC director general Nehemiah Mchechu admitted the corporation owned the plot, but had leased it to an investor. He said the contract was signed in 2008 by the former management under the Build-Operate-Transfer (BOT) contract system. He said the NHC was not responsible in any way with the disaster for the contract categorically charged the investor to comply with laws and regulations guiding construction industry. The RC ordered Mr Kova to arrest and interrogate the contractor by yesterday. Subsequent reports indicated that the order had been heeded.