Leaders should take responsibility for the Nyagatare disaster

Editor,I was appalled by how people can just lose life like that. This kind of negligence, poor coordination and lack of concern by the leaders of the area is totally unacceptable. I don’t see where the country is heading with such leaders still in place.How do you tell me that starting from the mayor down to Umudugudu leader, no one requested for any of the approvals and the structure goes up to the fourth level, without noticing what was going on?What I can be sure of is that banks are going to start increasing interest rates by making sure that every construction is strictly supervised. Insurance companies will do same and this is how we the negligence of some leaders and incompetence of the Engineer is going to affect us all.This should not go down as if nothing criminal happened. The mayor should also be requested to reimburse all the costs involved in clearing the mess he stood by. This is public patrimony that was used to clear the damage caused by office’s negligence. After that, I don’t see why you should not resign.For the engineer, you’re an embarrassment to the school that offered you the degree and you deserve not to call yourself an engineer anymore.John, Nyamata, Rwanda*********************In brief a very long catalogue of horrors, each of them sufficiently serious to warrant institution of criminal investigation and charges. The question that hangs in the air concerning the Nyagatare authorities is: Isn’t it criminal negligence to willfully look away in return for material consideration (to be blunt, were bribes involved) in order for such a major edifice to go up in town in a place like Nyagatare without questions asked?As the saying goes, not even the worst case is entirely useless; it can always serve as a bad example. This should definitely be a teachable opportunity for a lot of institutions and the authorities, both civil and the police, as Ntambara suggests.My biggest concern: On this huge “construction site” called Rwanda, how many finished buildings -- similarly put up without adhering to prudent building standards – are out there waiting to collapse on unsuspecting citizens? Isn’t it time we instituted regular checks on many multi-storey edifices to ensure they don’t fall and bury people on a regular basis?Mwene Kalinda, Kigali, RwandaReactions to Paul Ntambara’s opinion, “Of the Nyagatare disaster and the “lessons learnt” ridicule”, (The New Times, June 13)

Opinions

Leaders should take responsibility for the Nyagatare disaster