Supermarket collapse raises safety concerns

  • 2001-01-11
  • Nick Coleman
RIGA - Two people died and four were injured when a building in Riga's art
nouveau district collapsed on Dec. 22. The incident has drawn
attention to the unsafe state of many buildings, and has highlighted
widespread violations of building regulations.

The building on Pulkveza Brieza Street collapsed when its interior,
from the sixth floor down, gave way under the weight of construction
waste piled in one spot. The building was uninhabited apart from the
Essa supermarket housed on the ground floor. Those who could fled the
fairly crowded shop when the ceiling caved in above them. The bodies
of the two dead women were eventually recovered from the wreckage.
One was said to be 40 years old, the other 24. Of the injured, three
were hospitalized, two with head injuries.

Police are conducting a criminal investigation, which may focus on
the building's owner, Ilmars Limbens. No charges have yet been
brought, said state police spokesman Krists Leiskalns.

Limbens may be fined for carrying out illegal construction work, said
Ilmars Leikums, director of the city's Building Inspectorate. Debris
from building work had been removed from the attic and placed in one
spot on the sixth floor, said Leikums. Limbens had removed walls on
all floors of the building without seeking the necessary approval
from the Building Inspectorate. Though they were technically
non-supporting walls, their removal would have weakened the building
in a district where typically the wooden floors are not able to
support great weights, said Leikums.

Blame for the collapse does not lie with the Building Inspectorate,
said Leikums, a view supported by Janis Lejnieks, director of the
Latvian Museum of Architecture.

"There are a lot of new developers who are keen to make fast money
and want to break the regulations," said Lejnieks.

Unsafe buildings are a significant problem in Riga, said Leikums.

"This is not a crisis but there are certainly big problems in some
buildings," he said.

"There is a lack of responsibility on the part of owners, a lack of
resources to do anything on the part of the municipality and a lack
of professionalism among contractors."

Residents often attempt structural changes on the basis of outdated
surveys which do not show recent changes elsewhere in the building,
said Leikums.

The situation has been exacerbated by disputes that have accompanied
the restoration of property nationalized in the Soviet era, he said.

"While litigation takes place to recover property, no one does
anything about the safety of buildings," he said.

Where ownership is undisputed ignorance of safety issues remains a
problem, said Leikums.

"No one wants to see their property collapse, but it's often hard to
find the owners to warn them," said Leikums.

But more people are reporting their renovation plans to the Building
Inspectorate, said Leikums.

"In the early 1990s, 90 percent of renovations were illegal. Now we
receive information about 70 percent of renovations."

Leikums and Lejnieks both think increasing the powers of the Building
Inspectorate might help improve building safety and prevent future
disasters like that in Pulkveza Brieza Street. Giving inspectors the
power to impose on-the-spot fines might help, says Leikums.