THE INQUIRY

STATEMENT OF MUSTAFA ABDU TOWER RESIDENTS

I, Mustafa Abdu, former resident of 184 Grenfell Tower, Lancaster West Estate, London, W 11 1TQ, WILL SAY AS FOLLOWS:

1. I make this statement to provide evidence to the Grenfell Tower Inquiry on matters relevant to module 3 (fire safety measures) and module 4 (aftermath) as specified in the document entitled 'List oflssues for BSR phase 2 witness statements' . It is not possible to convey the extent of the difficulties I have suffered by limiting myself to the seven days following the fire. I am, however, aware of the purpose of the module, which is to capture an understanding of how bereaved, survivors and residents experienced the immediate aftermath of the fire. The events I describe in this statement are rooted in that seven day period and I therefore address them in this statement. The statement I make is from my own knowledge or belief unless otherwise stated. If not from my own knowledge I will identify the source.

2. I first address briefly complaints I raised in relation to disrepair and health related matters before turning to address fire safety measures more generally. I then address the aftermath ofthe fire.

3. I address complaints about repair issues at my flat before turning to matters concerning fire safety complaints. I believe complaints about repair issues are relevant because they provide the Inquiry with an overview of how complaints were dealt with by the TMO and RBKC. In my view, the response to non-fire safety complaints were inadequate and reflect

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IWS00001956/1 IVVS00001956_0001 the attitude of the TMO and RBKC towards residents' complaints generally and explains why I lost my resolve to raise complaints at all.

4. I have made previous statements to the Metropolitan Police Service and the Grenfell Tower Inquiry. This is my second statement to the Inquiry because I made a statement during Phase 1 of the Inquiry, which has the Relativity reference IWS00000307 Complaints o(Disrepair

5. I raised the following complaints to RBKC/TMO. a. Leaking

1. There was a leak from Flat 194 on the 22nd floor, which was the fl at above mine. The water from the leak would seep into my flat. I think the leak in his flat was caused by the central heating system. The leak commenced shortly after the refurbishment works had been completed; around 201 5.

n. I had approached the resident of Flat 194 in relation to the leak about two months after it started.

111. When I asked if he had reported the leak, he confirmed that he had reported the disrepair to the TMO many times; he said over 50 times. I had also reported the leak to the TMO.

IV. The leak was so bad and went on for so long that it also started to affect the flat below me. The person from the flat below complained to me about the leak and I told them that it was not a leak in my flat but from the one above. I think this person complained to the TMO also.

v. I would call the generic repairs number to raise a complaint but no work was carried out to rectify the issue. Often I was told that the contractors would be attending my property to carry out repairs. I would then take a day off to keep to the appointment but the contractors would regularly not attend.

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v1. When I would ask why no one had attended my property I would be told the person who was to attend the appointment was on holiday and had not arranged for cover. As I was self-employed, this would mean that I would often lose a day's pay.

vn. When someone did finally attend my property to deal with the repair work they did not repair the leak. The leak was never repaired. Instead they painted the walls in my flat but they did not replace the panels which were affected by the disrepair or re-plaster the walls. The cupboards in the kitchen were also damaged by the leaking and these were not repaired or replaced.

6. There is no evidence in the housing file of the complaints I made and when further documents were requested by my solicitors, such as complaints and repair logs, RBKC confirmed that it did not have any other written records of the repair requests that I made.

7. When my file was provided to my solicitors by Rydon it contained email correspondence between Rydon and the TMO regarding the damage to the panel in my hallway from the leak upstairs, the picture of this damage is at (MA/1 ). There are further pictures of the damage to my property at (MA/2 ) which come from an email between Rydon and the TMO, also attached at (MA/2 ).

8. In the email dated 23 November 2015 Chris Holt from Rydon says that the leak was fixed. This cannot be true because after this date my property was still being damaged by the leak from the flat above mine. I note that Claire Williams from the TMO also said that she "did not want to instruct additional work" (MA/3 ).

9. I also note that Chris Holt from Rydon produced a snagging report naming a number of issue at my property on 1 December 2015. This noted holes in pipes in my property as well as issues with my windows, attached at (MA/4 RYD00059720). I was never made aware that there was damage to my radiator pipes nor did anyone ever fix these.

10. As shown by (MA/5 ) there was also a high degree of asbestos in my property. I was never informed that there was asbestos in my property. Also I do not remember any repairs works to deal with the flaking artex in my property. At

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IWS00001956/3 IVVS00001956_0003 (MA/6 ) there is an email exchange between Janice Wray, Claire Williams, John Tatham and Adrian Bowman stating that work was to be done at my property to deal with the asbestos issue as soon as possible, there was then a completion certificate dated 29 May 2015 at (MA/7 ). Though it seems the certificate's issue date is June 2013 and the certificate is dated on the same day as the email stating that Rydon had not yet attended my property.

11. I remember that work was done on 29 May 2015, I was not in the property but had given my key to the care taker so they could let the workers into my property. However, I believe that the completion certificate is inaccurate, the ceiling of the living room was only painted over and nothing was done in the kitchen as the certificate says. After this date, there was also still the brown spotting and flaking which you see in the picture at (MA/2 ) in the property.

12. When my solicitors showed me the details of the asbestos in my property, as detailed in the papers from Rydon, I was shocked because this was the frrst time I heard about this. I am appalled that I was living in a property with asbestos but never informed of this.

13. I did not feel that my complaints nor those of the other residents I spoke to were effectively dealt with and this made me reluctant to report any other issues when they occurred.

Fire Safetv Measures

Fire Safety Systems 14. I moved into Flat 184 Grenfell Tower in or around August 1990. Whilst living there I noticed various issues which concern the fire safety systems. I address each of these below.

Lifts Pre-refurbishment 15 . There were two lifts at Grenfell Tower and these were often out of service, maybe every couple of months. This would mean having to take the stairs all the way up to the 21st floor. Although a contractor would be called to repair the lifts, this would take time and it was never resolved swiftly. This was an ongoing problem that kept occurring.

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Post-refurbishment 16. The lifts kept breaking down roughly on the same regular basis after the refurbishment as they did before.

Flat doors 17. I remember that my flat door was replaced but this was done before the refurbishment period, though I do not remember the exact year; at this time the lock on my door was also changed to one which would self-lock if the door closed. I remember, because of the new lock, I had to be careful not to let my flat door close behind me because if I did it would lock me out. As I was conscious of this, I remember that I could let go of the door and it would not automatically fully self-close, although sometimes the wind would blow it shut and lock me out of my flat.

Communal doors 18. I remember that both pre-refurbishment and post-refurbishment, the reception door would generally be left open. We had a security system which required a fob to open the front door but this would often be broken so anyone could come into the building. I remember it being broken and it taking two to three weeks for anything to be done about it.

19. When the reception door was fixed it would often be broken again soon after.

20. There was also a communal door on my floor which lead to the stairwell. I remember there was a self-closing device on this door so it would shut automatically but it would never close fully. I remember this because when it was windy the stairwell door would open then slam close, which I could hear from my flat. I do not remember when this started but it was would make noise like this for as long as I can remember.

21. I was at work regularly during the day, and so I would only hear the slamming when I got home and at that point I never wanted to complain about it. I also did not feel that if I had complained it would have made any difference. I felt this way because of the way my complaints and the complaints of others had been dealt with, such as with the leaks in my flat, the one above me and below me.

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IWS00001956/5 IVVS00001956_0005 22. I do not know of anyone else who complained about the stairwell door on the 21st floor. I do not remember anyone coming to look at the door or inspect it and it remained broken until the night of the fire.

23. On the night of the fire when I left my flat to escape at around 1:1Oam, I remember going down the stairs and there being smoke. My flat did not have much smoke in it but the stairwell was filling up with smoke. There was not that much smoke on the 21st floor at the time but enough to make it difficult to breathe, so I had to cover my mouth and nose. When I got to around the 1Oth floor the air was thick and dark with smoke. I initially turned back and at this point was going to go back into my flat but after panicking and then thinking, I thought I had to go through it, so I just covered my mouth and nose and then ran down the stairs.

Windows ?re-refurbishment 24. The windows before the refurbishment were easy to open and you could open them as far as you wanted. I thought that this was risky for a high-rise block but never complained about this.

Post-refurbishment 25. After the refurbishment my window would lock itself shut and I could not open it. As I was working all of the time and because of my experience with the leak not being resolved, I did not report this issue.

Fire safety signage ?re-refurbishment 26. I do not remember there being any fire safety signage before the refurbishment.

Post refurbishment 27. The first fire safety signage I remember were signs advising on the "stay put" policy. These were in the lift and lobby corridors at the Tower. I remember from this that that in the case of a fire you should not use the lift and should go back to your room and shut the doors and windows.

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IWS00001956/6 IVVS00001956_0006 Escape routes 28. The stairs did not really change due to the refurbishment. I did not think that the stairs at Grenfell Tower were well designed for emergencies. I found them to be very narrow and dark. You could just about fit two people down the stairs at one time.

29. I remember that often the lights in the stairwell would not work on ce1iain floors and so the stairs would be dark. As the issue was not on my floor I did not report this issue to anyone. I also thought that if I had reported it, nothing would be done about it anyway because of the way my complaints and the complaints of others had previously been ignored or not fully resolved, so I just did not report it.

Smoke control or ventilation system 30. I cannot remember there ever being an issue with the smoke control or ventilation system generally, although I do not know how I would know if there were any issue.

31. I did not make any complaints about the smoke control or ventilation system because I was not aware there was an issue with it before the fire.

Smoke alarms ?re-refurbishment 32. There were no smoke alarms fitted in my apartment before the refurbishment.

Post-refurbishment 33. After the refurbishment smoke alarms were fitted into my apartment. There were two in my flat; one in the kitchen and the other in the corridor. I do not recall them ever going off whilst living at the property, even when I was cooking. Nor do I remember anyone else's smoke alarms going off, even on the night of the fire.

34. On the night of the fire my smoke alarms did not go off either, I was only aware ofthe fire because my brother kept calling me to wake me up. If he had not called to wake me I am not sure if I would have woken up because none of the alarms were going off.

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IWS00001956/7 IVVS00001956_0007 Gas works carried out by Cadent Gas/tR/10 at Grenfell Tower 3 5. There was a new gas supply put in after the refurbishment. Gas pipes were laid around the skirting and on the ceiling of my flat. This was not a particularly nice look as they were exposed.

36. The pipes were also exposed in the common areas on the walls and I was concerned that kids could easily damage or break them.

37. Though I did not complain about these myself, I did speak to others in the Tower and most of them complained to me about the way the gas pipes looked and that they could be unsafe. I do not remember anyone officially complaining about the pipes, although I am sure that someone must have.

38. The boilers were to be moved from rooms within residents' flats into their hallways and residents did not like this. They complained about this and there was a petition many of the residents signed which was sent to Rydon and RBKC. I signed this petition also. I cannot remember when we did this.

39. This resulted in boilers being put into residents' kitchens instead of hallways in the flats, however, because my kitchen was small I had agreed to have my boiler in my hallway instead.

Fire safety checks/inspections 40. Whilst at the property, I do not recall fire safety checks or inspections ever taking place. For example, on the 2Pt floor the door to the stairs would never close fully and made a banging noise because it would come open. I never remember this door being inspected despite this issue with it.

Fire safety advice 41. I have lived at the tower for 27 years and I never remember receiving any advice about fire safety.

42. I did not feel at the time that we were properly briefed or trained about fire safety either.

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IWS00001956/8 IVVS00001956_0008 43. I do not recall any fire safety officer talking to me about fire safety in the Tower.

44. My solicitors have asked me whether I remember anything about the resident magazine Link. I cannot remember ever hearing about Link and despite talking to others I cannot ever remember them mentioning the Link magazine either. It seemed that no one was aware of it.

45. I do not remember ever receiving any newsletters during the refurbishment period about fire safety advice. I will usually look at my mail and read it if it comes through the door, so I cannot imagine that I would have missed it. The only advice I remember is the plastic "stay put" signs set up in the lift and lobby area.

46. In the event of a fire I thought that I had to go to my flat and remain in there with my doors and windows shut because that is what the signs in the lobby and lift area said.

A(termath

Emergency shelter and accommodation 47. On the night of the fire I stood outside the Tower all night, I was shocked and did not know what to do or where to go.

48. On the night there were ambulances taking people who were affected by the fire and trying to help people at the site or taking them to hospital where necessary.

49. The police were on Lancaster West Estate also, they cordoned off roads leading towards the Tower to divert traffic. They were also stopping people from going near the Tower.

50. I do not remember any other support or emergency services outside of the Tower that night, other than the fire brigade.

51. On the second night after the fire I went to stay with my brother and on that day I went to the Town Hall to speak to someone at the RBKC and ask for accommodation. I was later told that I could go to a hotel called the Haveli Hotel in and so I spent my third night there.

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IWS00001956/9 IVVS00001956_0009 52. At the Haveli Hotel I was put in a room in the basement, it was dirty and dingy. I could not stay there so I went to make a complaint to RBKC at Rugby Pmiobello. RBKC then arranged for me to move into another hotel in called Manor Lodge Hotel and I spent the fourth night there.

53 . This hotel had no hot water I couldn't take shower. I still felt in shock over what had happened to my home and to the people I knew in the Tower and I could not believe the terrible hotels I had been put in. The whole tragedy and position I was in really started to affect me; I felt run down and resigned to the situation I was in.

54. On the fifth night Anna Badu visited me at the hotel in Bayswater; Anna had been appointed to be my case worker. I explained to her how I felt and about the issues at the hotel. She then arranged to have me moved and so on the sixth night after the fire I was at the Hammersmith Novotel Hotel. This hotel was much nicer, with hot water and clean sheets, it made me feel better. I stayed at the Novotel from June until around the end of August 2017.

55. I was then moved to a property in in or around the end of August 2017 or the beginning of September 2017. It was self-contained interim accommodation but I was offered a permanent tenancy there if I wanted it. The property was fine but it was too far away from where I was used to living and the community I was used to and which were supporting me. I therefore, moved out of the property in October 2018 because I was offered a property on a permanent basis, where I live now.

Food and drink 56. A week or so after the Fire, the council started to pay for my breakfast, lunch and dinner as well as drink at the hotels. The food was suitable for me. Initially, in order to be provided with food and drink, I signed a register at the hotel before I ate anything and then the council would pay for it. After a little while, I was given a money card which I could use to pay for food and drink at the hotel, which again the council paid for.

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57. When I moved into temporary accommodation towards the end of August 2017 I was then paying for my own food again. I was not made aware of any other support from the council at this point for food or drink.

58. I then moved into permanent accommodation and again was not receiving nor made aware of any form of financial support for food or drink from the council.

Basic provisions and financial assistance 59. After the fire I put my name on a register at the Westway Centre and at Rugby Portobello. This was so other charities could contact me. Rugby Portobello seemed to be a gateway through which other charities could and would contact me to offer support.

60. At the Westway Centre, Al-Mannar and Rugby Portobello; funds, food and essentials were collected from donations. These were available to all the residents from the Lancaster West Estate. As I understand these charities collected donations made by other charities and from the public, they then distributed them. I remember receiving funds myself through Rugby Portobello and Al-Mannar.

61. During the first few months after the fire I felt shocked, angry and empty. This stopped me from eating properly. I also had a lot of trouble sleeping because I kept having nightmares about the fire and the people trapped in the tower. This all then affected my daily life and meant I reduced my usual working hours.

62. I also remember that there was a £5000 crisis fund which was set up, though I cannot remember who by, though I think it was from the Government.

63. At Rugby Portobello there was also a stock of clothing which you could take. These had been provided by charities. At the time, around three weeks after the fire, I felt so numb and upset about what had happened I did not want to go through the clothes to pick some out for myself, so I just stayed in the clothes I had on.

64. At the Westway Centre and Rugby Portobello there were leaflets on how to assist yourself or where you could get financial, medical or psychological assistance and how to

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claim back your propetty entitlement from the council. I am not sure who provided these leaflets.

65 . At the Westway Centre and Rugby Portobello there were other charities and groups who were present and offering assistance. Those I can remember were the British Red Cross, Royal Mail, Transport for London and Driver and Vehicle Licensing Agency (DVLA). These bodies were present until around a month after the Fire when the Westway Centre moved to the Curve. I think that they were then present at the Curve but did leave, though I am not sure when.

66. The British Red Cross were taking details from visitors to the Westway and then the Curve, I think this was so charities could contact people. The Royal Mail was there to distribute post that was being delivered to the properties of the Lancaster West Estate residents but because of the fire was not being collected. Transport for London (TfL) were providing travel cards to residents, which lasted for a month, so they could use the TfL services for free. The DVLA were assisting residents regain their driving licenses which had been lost in the fire.

67. At the Westway Centre and then at the Curve too there was a health service provided to assist those who had been affected by the fire, I think by the NHS.

68. A lot of the information I received about getting help and support was from speaking to others in the Grenfell community; we would often meet informally at the Westway Centre or Rugby Portobello and exchange information.

69. The charities' support and support from the community was amazing and really appreciated. I do not remember if there was anyone from the Council or the TMO at the Westway Centre, other than those who assisted with finding housing for Lancaster West Estate residents, though if there had been, I do not think that I would have approached them. There was a lot of resentment and mistrust towards the RBKC and TMO after the fire because of the way they had treated us before the fire by ignoring our complaints and concerns.

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IWS00001956/12 IVVS00001956_0012 Psychological support 70. I initially found out about psychological support when two women visited me at the Novotel Hotel in Hammersmith, I do not remember their names or where they were from.

71. They told me that there was psychological support available for Grenfell Tower victims. I spoke to my GP about this and they provided me with a leaflet and referred me to Take Time To Talk program. I was then referred onto St Charles Hospital around September 2017.

72. I have suffered trauma as a result of the fire. I have received NHS treatment for this.

73. The few months after the fire I did not feel grounded in reality and things just passed me by. I think because of this I may have missed out on some forms of support because I did not feel able to engage with the information I was provided with. I was also attending the funerals of others from the Tower, which was very difficult. During this time my support worker, Anna Badu, would call and check in on me around twice every week.

Information and assistance 74. After the fire I found out about those who had passed away by speaking to members of the Grenfell community. There was a list on a board at Rugby Portobello where the residents of the Tower were named. We checked our names off against this if we had survived or others' names if we knew they had.

75. I do not remember getting any other information about who to contact to find out who ·had made it out of the Tower.

Public communication 76. There was a lot of information going around about how residents could be assisted after the fire; I remember there were people visiting the hotels the residents of the estate were staying at; leaflets were being provided at places like the Westway Centre and Rugby Portobello; and Grenfell United were also circulating a lot of information. I do not remember where this information came from.

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IWS00001956/13 IVVS00001956_0013 77. I think that there was a lot of information out there for residents of the Lancaster West Estate but the issue was that because of what had happened and because it was so traumatic, people were not in the right frame of mind to be able to engage with the information out there.

Voluntary and community groups 78. I remember that the charities were all excellent and provided a great deal of information as well as financial and emotional support. I mainly engaged with Rugby Portobello and the Westway Centre until it stopped providing support. I am very thankful to all of the charities and all the organizations which supported the Lancaster West community.

79. I was aware that there was support being provided by St Clements Church and Al­ Manar Mosque to members of the Grenfell community too.

80. As I mention above as well, the Grenfell community were a major provider of support and information and one which I really relied on. Grenfell United were also circulating information.

Coordination and Leadership 81. From what I remember the response from Central Government, the RBKC and the TMO, in the immediate aftermath of the fire, was not ideal. I felt that due to the magnitude of what had happened, there was a very disproportionate response from these bodies. They were not as involved in providing support, information or communicating with the community to understand our needs. Though I must admit, I myself and residents I spoke to in the community all did not want to engage with the RBKC or the TMO after the fire. We were angry at them for the way they had treated us before the fire and we did not trust them to help us after. The residents spoke about our mistreatment by RBKC and the TMO a lot after the fire.

Adequacy of Response and Lessons Learned 82. The thing which sticks in my mind now, after the fire, is how quickly the cladding spread the fire around the tower and the question; why was the tower refurbished in the first place?

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IWS00001956/14 IVVS00001956_0014 Cladding 83. It was clear that the cladding was a cheap product and from seeing how fast the fire spread and engulfed the property it must have been obvious how dangerous it was too. I do not understand how the designers, contractors and landlord missed that. I think that their first priority was considering costs and the health and safety of the residents was a second thought and mostly ignored. I do not think that this is acceptable and this approach needs to be changed.

84. I feel that the cladding needed to be tested better and the fire ratings need to be changed. Whatever the fire rating of the cladding was, when you saw how quickly the fire spread that night you realised that the cladding, practically, had no fire resistance at all.

Refurbishment 85. I do not think that the refurbishment should ever have happened; the refurbishment did not benefit anyone in the Tower and the only thing that really changed was the aesthetics. All that happened is that there was a lot of money spent to make the Tower more dangerous and this vanity cost lives.

86. I think that there needed to be more communication with the residents before the project. We received some information about the refurbishment but it always felt like we were being told what was happening, not being invited to discuss the changes or even the need to regenerate the Tower, an example of the information we received about the refurbishment is attached at (MA/8 )

87. I cannot stop thinking about the children and families who passed away because of an irresponsible decision and people not taking people's lives into consideration. I think in the future the health and safety of residents needs to be more of a concern and monitored better.

Fire safety 88. There was also not enough information about what to do in case of a fire. We were just told that we needed to stay in our homes, we never knew that it may be safer to leave. There were elderly people in the Tower and they had no idea how to leave ifthey needed to, because we never did any fire drills. We were never told how to evacuate the property

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IWS00001956/15 IVVS00001956_0015 or deal with the smoke in the common areas either. People thought that their homes were the safest places for them to be but they were not.

Complaints 89. There was a general mistrust towards the RBKC and the TMO because whenever anyone from the community made any complaints they would not be dealt with properly or sometime at all. We then just stopped reporting the issue with the property. I think there needs to be a way to ensure that if issues are reported that they are dealt with appropriately and if they are not then we can make sure that they are.

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IWS00001956/16 IVVS00001956_0016 Statement of Truth

I believe that the facts stated in this witness statement are true. I confirm that I am willing for this statement to form part of the evidence before the Grenfell Tower Inquiry and to be published on the Inquiry's website.

Signed: ..c!dJ ......

Dated: .. 2. 7-: ..Q .2. :-.. ~ - 9.. ?.-Q ......

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