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"Grenfell refurb details 'kept secret to protect commercial interests'
Demand for information from landlord was denied to protect contractor, inquiry told
A Grenfell Tower resident’s demand for information from his landlord about how decisions were being made about the building’s refurbishment was dismissed to protect the “commercial interests” of the contractor Rydon, it has emerged.
In September 2014, almost three years before the disaster that claimed 72 lives, Ed Daffarn made a request under the Freedom of Information Act to see the Kensington and Chelsea Tenant Management Organisation monthly minutes about the refurbishment project, including input from Rydon and the architecture firm Studio E. The request was refused because release might “prejudice the commercial interests of the contractor”.
Grenfell: the 72 victims, their lives, loves and losses
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On Wednesday Daffarn told the inquiry into the disaster that the minutes could have revealed that two months earlier zinc cladding had been swapped for combustible plastic-filled cladding, which leaked emails have shown saved the Royal Borough of Kensington and Chelsea almost £300,000.
“If we had seen that they had replaced non-combustible materials with combustible materials we could have publicised it and campaigned against it,” he said. “I didn’t have the information I needed to know just how unsafe our homes really were. The thought that if I had been given this information I could have done something about it continues to cause me anguish.”
Daffarn complained separately to the landlord that residents were not asked about the type of cladding and that they had not seen samples of new windows, newly released emails show.
The tenant management organisation (TMO) said residents had been consulted, but Daffarn told the inquiry: “As far as I can see, we were only ever informed about the zinc product. The fact that the product was changed, and the reasons for the change, were withheld from us.”
The cheaper combustible cladding was instrumental in spreading the fire, experts have told the inquiry, and it has been banned by the government on residential buildings more than 18 metres tall
Several of the bereaved and survivors giving evidence have complained about the way the refurbishment was handled. Daffarn claimed that the TMO had threatened to “smash down the door” of any tenant or leaseholder that failed to cooperate, but this was denied by the TMO.
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Earlier on Wednesday Samuel Daniels, whose disabled father, Joseph Daniels, died in the fire, described the relationship between residents and Rydon as “toxic”. He told the inquiry it was clear the project was “designed to benefit those looking at the block, not those of us who were living in it”.
Daniels described how firefighters who tried to save his father appeared not to be wearing breathing apparatus and had to abandon the mission amid confusion about the layout of the building. He said they turned back “totally petrified” from an attempt to save his father who he had left on the 16th floor flat because he was disorientated and could not be persuaded to leave. Joseph Daniels was found dead in the lobby outside his flat.
“They could not tell which floors they were on as there were no signs,” he said. “I ran with the firemen, and it felt like I was running away from my father.”
He described how fire alarms that worked before the refurbishment did not go off and that for at least 30 minutes he smelled smoke but did not try to evacuate because he heard no alarm
When he got to the base of the blazing tower he looked up and felt sure his father was dead, he said.
Grenfell survivors tell how they ignored advice to 'stay put'
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“I could see countless people in their flats looking out of their windows or hammering on their windows not knowing what to do; sometimes it was entire families,” he said. “People were jumping from their windows.”
Branislav Lukic, who lived on the 11th floor, told the inquiry he went back into his flat to make sure his flatmate made it out, and he rescued Clarita Ghavimi, who he found in a panic on the 10th floor as thick black smoke filled the communal areas. He threw her over his shoulder and took her down to safety.
“I still have feelings of guilt that I was not able to help more people who did not make it out. We lost two people from my floor, and I could not help them when I was escaping the building,” he said.
Describing the smoke and the heat, he said: “I remember what it felt like every day. I am really struggling with my mental health, and am finding it really difficult to cope.”
He said the fire had “made me an entirely different person”.
The inquiry continues."