Multiple buildings in Male’ at risk of collapse

A rundown building in Male’ partially collapsed on Saturday; just one of multiple buildings in the Maldivian capital, home to tens of thousands of people, that are at risk of collapse.

 The building, which once housed the Education Development Center (EDC), partially collapsed at around 01:00 pm Saturday, letting loose slabs of concrete that hit and damaged multiple vehicles parked nearby. It was a miracle it did not result in any injuries, or worse.

But this is nothing new in Male’.

The capital city has multiple such rundown buildings, including those owned by the state such as the old Arabiyya School building and the Huravee building, as well as privately owned properties.

There have been multiple incidents were collapse of such buildings have resulted in injuries to unsuspecting people walking nearby.

While some of these buildings are currently vacant, others are not. This includes social housing projects such as the Sinamale’ flats and the Male’ Hiya flats, which are home to hundreds of tenants. These housing complexes are severely rundown, despite constant repairs.

While Male’ has not seen fatalities from building collapses such as those experienced in neighboring countries such as India and Bangladesh, the risk of such a tragedy is undeniable.

This is a concern shared by Male’ City Mayor Adam Azim.

Azim told Sun on Sunday that the city council has requested meetings with relevant authorities on multiple occasions regarding ascertaining the safety of rundown buildings in Male’.

But he believes the responsibility lies not just with state authorities, but also with private citizens.

Azim said that private citizens must treat ascertaining the safety of the buildings they own with greater seriousness.

He said that the legal authority to demolish these rundown buildings lies not with the city council, but with the Local Government Ministry.

“It is the responsibility of the owner of the property to ensure safety when the building they construct gets rundown. As is in within the limits of our mandate, we will inform parties when buildings get rundown. And if they fail to address it despite being notified, then the option left is legal action, right?” he said.

There are many buildings in Male’ that have been abandoned due to their rundown state, becoming dens for drug abusers and other crimes, and scenes of frequent fires.

Its not just old buildings in Male’ that face safety issues, but also new ones. Electricity short circuits, water damage, and even collapse of parts of concrete sheets are common in Male’.

Construction experts believe the issue lies with failure to use enough concrete or the use of inferior construction materials.

There’s also problems that arise with lack of proper maintenance.

In Male’, where landowners earn a huge income by charging rent, it is common to use inferior material to cut down the cost of construction. The country also lacks an effective mechanism to ensure buildings are up to code.