Authorities fault churches on construction rules

Most churches in Burera District do not follow construction guidelines, district authorities have said. District engineers made the remarks while commenting on a recent incident where four people were killed and 30 others injured when a church building under construction collapsed in Gahunga, Burera on New Year’s Day. This was the second incident in the district in two years. Nine people died and 44 others were injured in two separate church collapse incidents in Burera in the last two years. The other incident occurred in November 2013 and claimed five lives leaving 14 others injured. Both incidents were attributed to praying from unfinished structures and using substandard construction materials. Churches are said to be constructed by members through financial contributions or manual labour. In the recent incident, the church had erected walls without windows, doors and roof, and could, therefore, not withstand wind which forced it to cave in. Emmanuel Ngiruwonkunda, an engineer from Local Administrative Entities Development Agency (Loda), said most of the churches are built by the faithful and fail to follow stipulated guidelines. “Most of the churches are constructed by members who use substandard materials and do not bother to get construction permits,” he said. He urged constructors to observe construction guidelines such as having a strong foundation and use of standard materials. Jean Claude Habumuremyi, in charge of infrastructure in Burera District, said a study done last year revealed that most of the churches in the area were in a sorry state. He said most of them were constructed using mud and wattle. “Most of the churches are in a sorry state and need rehabilitation,” Habumuremyi said, appealing to church leaders to always use construction engineers even when Christians offer to do the job. Samuel Sembagare, the mayor of Burera District blamed the two incidents on negligence of church leaders who did not follow construction guidelines and conducted prayers in unfinished structures. He said before erecting any building, owners need to seek a construction permit and wait for the inspection team to give a go ahead before using the structure. “It is unfortunate we lost innocent people in places of worship. What is clear, however, is that construction guidelines were ignored and church leaders are to blame. We have an infrastructure committee which should be consulted on construction,” Sembagare said. Esther Mutamba, the Director General, Rwanda Housing Authority (RHA), said church leaders wishing to erect buildings should pass through the normal construction procedure. She said there are RHA inspectors at district levels whose job is to ensure that the construction regulations are followed. “There are inspection guidelines, Rwanda building control regulations and other tools. We appeal to district inspectors to help enforce these regulations,” she said. “Church leaders and other people who wish to construct public buildings should consult those inspectors and comply with the building guidelines,” she added. But pastor Thadee Ngerero one of the pastors who have been questioned by Police in relation with the latest incident, said it was not their plan to pray from an unfinished church but worshipers requested that they use the building on New Year. “We were used to praying from outside as we await completion of the church but Christians insisted that we use the church as an opportunity to thank God for ending the year peacefully,” he said. editorial@newtimes.co.rw

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Authorities fault churches on construction rules