Wednesday, November 20, 2013
It will take at least two years before operations can resume at the Westgate Shopping Mall.
This is according to experts who are conducting damage assessment of
what remains of the mall after the September 21 terrorist attack that
left the building in ruins.
Charles Kariuki said after inspection,
they were shocked to find that at least 70 per cent of the building had
suffered damage as the structure had internal cracks.
“We are
currently doing non-destructive testing (NDT) on pillars to see the
extent of stress and external damage they might have suffered. NDT is a
kind of X-ray technology that allows us to see inside solid structures
without necessarily having to demolish them as is the case with the
pillars in this mall,” said Kariuki.
He was speaking at the
handing over of the building Tuesday to its owner Alex Trachtenberg by
the Government after it was announced on November 11 that it was no
longer a crime scene.
Gigiri police boss Vitalis Otieno presented the handover documents to Trachtenberg on behalf of the Government.
Otieno,
however, assured that the police will continue offering round the clock
security to prevent the mall from being looted as was the case when the
military left the scene. He said that his officers had arrested 40
suspects who had earlier tried to loot the mall.
Alex expressed
his joy at finally gaining entry to his building as he was soon planning
to start repairs since the building was insured against terrorist
attacks.
He, however, maintainedthat the management of the mall
will not take liability for losses and damage of merchandise in shops as
they are under the jurisdiction of shop owners.
During the tour
of the mall to assess its damage, some tenants could be heard expressing
their displeasure at the management of the mall, accusing them of not
having adequate and well equipped security personnel at the time of the
attack to prevent the loss of their investments.
Meanwhile, a
court has ruled that the warrant of arrest issued against the ‘White
Widow’ Samantha Louis Lewthaite two years ago at a Mombasa court was
still in force.
The arrest warrant, which has been re-issued by Interpol in the wake
of the August 22 Westgate terrorism attack, has been in force since 2011
when the woman was charged in the court in absentia.Tuesday,
Mombasa Senior Principal Magistrate Joyce Gandani also extended the
arrest warrant, which was issued against the British woman and her
husband Habi Saleh Gani alias Osama.
The case comes up for mention every month in anticipation that the woman will be arrested.