“We hope that justice will be done. The police have already investigated, but without the conclusion of the inquiry, they couldn’t say more,” a former resident told Lusa Agency today.
“What we want now is for justice to be done, for them to be able to accuse companies, individuals, and at least have them brought to court,” he added.
According to the final report of the inquiry, conducted over six years, the fire was the “culmination of decades of government failure and other organizations with positions of responsibility in the construction sector.”
The report highlights the “systematic dishonesty” of construction material companies that adopted “deliberate strategies (…) to manipulate the testing process, distort data, and deceive the market.”
The first phase of the investigation, published in October 2019, had concluded that the facade cladding was the “main cause” of the fire’s spread.
London firefighters are also strongly criticized for not having learned lessons from a previous fire in 2009, which “should have alerted them” to their difficulties “in fighting fires in tall buildings.”
Residents who called the firefighters were advised to stay in their apartments and wait for help, ultimately resulting in their deaths.
Prime Minister Keir Starmer admitted in parliament today that the deaths were “all preventable,” and apologized on behalf of the British state.
Starmer promised “radical action to prevent something like this from happening again.”
Miguel Alves, who is part of the group of former residents demanding justice, hopes the government will fulfill its commitment to implement the recommendations included in the report but was not surprised by the conclusions.
“The report came exactly in line with what we thought and believed had happened,” namely the “systematic dishonesty” of companies that “falsified results of certain products to be able to sell them.”
“There was a failure of many people at the same time: the government, the city council, the organization that supervised the building, companies that tried to save money where they shouldn’t,” he lamented to Lusa.
In total, ten Portuguese people lived in the building, all of whom survived.
Logan Gomes, a stillborn baby who was almost seven months into gestation, died due to smoke inhalation by his mother.
Miguel Alves confessed to Lusa Agency that he still has nightmares because of the disaster and that holding those responsible accountable is part of a “long and difficult process.”
The Portuguese emigrant believes that the tower will only be completely demolished after the court process, which should not happen before 2027.
The London Metropolitan Police said today that the investigation should take another 12 to 18 months, and the Crown Prosecution Service emphasized that charges should not be made until the end of 2026.
According to the Daily Telegraph, the conservation of the burned ruins of Grenfell Tower and the planning of a memorial have already cost around 340 million pounds (403 million euros).
“The tower should be torn down when possible because it’s a reminder of what happened. There are plans for a memorial, but there are various opinions, and it will be difficult to decide,” Alves acknowledged.
