The skeleton of Grenfell Tower towers over the landscape as a gloomy reminder of the tragedy that took place here over four and a half years ago.
The outside is wrapped in plastic. At the very top are the words:
«Grenfell – forever in our hearts»
– SKELETON: This is what Grenfell Tower looks like today, four and a half years after the fire. Photo: Tom Rune Orset / TV 2
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It was up there, at the very top, that Karim Musshily’s uncle, Hesham Rahman, lived. Musshily still finds it uncomfortable to look up at the building.
– He moved in 4-5 years before the fire. I helped him move in. He loved living at the very top. He said it brought him closer to God, Musshily tells TV 2.
The uncle never got out on the fateful June night of 2017.
– Uncle was bad to the bone. He called the fire department five times that night, but they said he would stay where he was and that they would come to his rescue, Musshily said.
He shakes his head and looks up at the building:
– He did not have a chance.
– MEMORIAL WALL: Musshily’s uncle Hesham Rahman has his own little place on the memorial wall for the Grenfell victims. Photo: Tom Rune Orset / TV 2
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– A fire trap
The fire started in an apartment on the fifth floor, the night of June 14, 2017, and spread quickly. It did not take long before the building was overheated.
72 people lost their lives in the tragedy.
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For Musshily, the fight for justice for the victims started already the morning after the fire, and he is today deputy leader of the organization Grenfell United.
– Grenfell was a fire trap. Grenfell was a death trap, the 35-year-old says firmly.
The public investigation, which is still ongoing, has revealed that the reason why the fire could spread so quickly was because the block was covered with flammable clothing.
– The judge sitting on the investigation panel has said that the building not only violated the building regulations, which means that it was technically illegal, but also that the cladding and materials were the main reason for the fire spreading, Musshily says.
“Fire safety crisis”
In the wake of the tragedy, flammable clothing and other fire safety faults have been discovered in hundreds of blocks and flats in the UK.
– FLAMMABLE: Hundreds of blocks and flats have flammable cladding and / or other fire safety deficiencies in the UK. Photo: Tom Rune Orset / TV 2
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According to the “End Our Cladding Scandal” campaign, about three million Britons live in flammable buildings.
The cost of improving fire safety in a building can be several million pounds, and the bill has often been sent to residents. Many have also had to increase rental prices sharply, and had to pay for so-called “walking supervision” from firefighters, according to BBC.
Lucy Cortes-Brown became involved in the campaign last year, when she discovered that the apartment she lives in by the Thames is clad in flammable clothing.
“Our entire apartment is completely covered by it,” says Cortes-Brown.
– FLAMMABLE: Lucy Cortes-Brown has gone to the purchase of fire blankets and fire extinguisher after she found out the apartment has flammable clothing. Photo: Tom Rune Orset / TV 2
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The fact that the beautiful apartment is a potential fire trap has affected the family a lot. Cortes-Brown shows us a letter his nine-year-old daughter sent to Boris Johnson last summer. There she asks the Prime Minister for help.
– LETTER TO BORIS: Cortes-Brown’s daughter has written a letter to Prime Minister Boris Johnson asking for help. Photo: Tom Rune Orset / TV 2
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– Our youngest daughter no longer dares to sleep in her room at night because she is afraid that she will get away from us if a fire breaks out, she says.
Asks the Petroleum Fund for help
Cortes-Brown has now teamed up with Grenfell United and several other campaigns to demand that the companies that have built the flammable homes pay for the improvement of the fire safety themselves.
Now they are also asking the companies’ shareholders for help.
– We looked at several of the companies that have listed buildings with faults in fire safety, and were surprised and alarmed that Norges Bank Investment Management was a shareholder in many of them, says Cortes-Brown.
– ASKING FOR HELP: Last week, the activists sent a letter to Oil Fund Manager Nicolai Tangen. Photo: Erik Edland / TV 2
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Like TV 2 previously mentioned, they have sent a letter to Oljefond manager Nicolai Tangen and asked him for help in putting pressure on the companies in question.
– We ask him to use the position Norges Bank Investment Management (NBIM) has as a shareholder to put pressure. Get these companies to compensate the victims after Grenfell and pay to fix these buildings so that they are safe, says Cortes-Brown.
If they do not succeed in putting pressure on the companies, they ask Norges Bank Investment Management (NBIM), which manages the Petroleum Fund, to get rid of their holdings in the companies in question.
Met representatives from NBIM
NBIM responded shortly after receiving the letter from the activists, in which they wrote that they had raised the issue with the companies in question.
On Monday, representatives from NBIM also had a meeting with the activists.
– It was a very constructive meeting. They listened to our concerns, at the same time as they were interested in getting more information, says Cortes-Brown after the meeting.
– THE OIL FUND ASK FOR HELP: Activists ask the Oil Fund to put pressure on a total of 11 companies in which they have investments. Photo: Tom Rune Orset / TV 2
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According to the newspaper The Sunday Times The Norwegian Petroleum Fund will have shareholdings worth approximately NOK 24 billion in the companies that have been linked to the construction of flammable buildings – including three of the companies that were involved in the production of materials for Grenfell Tower.
After the meeting, Cortes-Brown is positive that NBIM took the time to talk to them.
– I think everyone was very happy that they took it so seriously and that they listened to us.
– We have also planned a follow-up meeting, says Cortes-Brown.
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