Gilani's Supermarket shut indefinitely over safety concerns

The shop management issued a notice to its customers stating that due to unavoidable circumstances the supermarket had to be closed.

Gilani’s Supermarket in Nakuru has been shut down indefinitely. The County Government of Nakuru ordered closure of the supermarket on Wednesday evening to allow investigations following concerns over safety of the building. 

The County through its Lands, Housing and Physical Planning and Public Health CECs ordered the management of Gilani’s Supermarket to close it down in order to pave way for through investigations following concerns by members of public over the safety of the building.

Speaking after an inspection visit to the Supermarket Nakuru County Lands, Physical planning and Housing CEC Francis Mwangi together with County Public Health Departments Paul Waititu, the duo said the closure of the wholesale and retail shop will pave way for inspection of the building from independent government agencies as to the structural integrity of the building.

Waititu said having conducted inspections on the building they found it fit to close the supermarket.

“We did an inspection on Tuesday and we have concerns for the members of the public and for us to be sure that members of public are safe, we issued a closure notice,” said Waititu.

He said the county government will consider opening the building when they get a report from relevant authorities confirming that the building is safe for occupation.

Mwangi on his part said the technical team was there to sight see and had noted that the building had structural issues which need to be sorted out.

“In the meantime I have instructed my officers to issue relevant enforcement notices of closure as the matter is sorted,” said Mwangi.

He said they were pushing to have independent structural engineers’ reports for the matter to be addressed.

The CEC made it clear that they are not fighting investors within the County.

“All we saying is we not fighting our investors, we appreciate our investors but matters safety and security for the people of Nakuru are of great concern to us and this is why we deem it fit to have it closed down for few days as the issue is sorted,” said the CEC.

A team from County Lands, Physical planning and Housing he said will move in swiftly to ensure the notice is adhered to.

Reports on the cracks in the supermarket wall emerged after a staff at the retailer tipped people of the issue.

The retailer had however assured its customers that there was no cause for alarm.

“We called in engineers from the county who have confirmed that our building is structurally sound. A thorough assessment of the premises has been conducted,” a statement by the supermarket management read.

The shop management has since issued a notice to its customers stating that due to unavoidable circumstances the supermarket had to be closed.

“Due to unavoidable circumstances the shop will remain closed until further notice!! Sorry for the inconvenience caused,” read a notice by the shop management to its customers.

About 700 workers of the shop were affected by its closure.