Written by Kunle Awosiyan
Friday, 22 July 2011
IN view of the incessant incident of collapsed buildings in Lagos in the recent time, the state government has sealed off 34 structurally defective houses on Lagos Island in the last one week.
The State Commissioner for Physical Planning and Urban Development, Mr Olutoyin Ayinde, said this at a news conference on Thursday, adding that the action was a continuous process.
He said the houses were sealed because they breached the state physical laws and regulations and might collapse if government failed to arrest the situation.
According to him, about 645 houses across the state had been investigated while 143 of it had been listed for demolition. He said the owners of the affected buildings had been persuaded to demolish the structures but they had refused to do so.
“Eight out of the 143 owners of the defective buildings marked for demolition had complied. It is always a real battle to convince them of the imminent danger associated with the distress buildings,” he said.
The commissioner bemoaned the unmindful attitude of property owners, building developers and occupants of buildings towards government sensitisation and regulations saying, “there is general violation of the state urban and regional planning and development law,” he said.
Ayinde stated that government had resolved to prosecute owners of collapsed buildings in the metropolis, adding that in a few weeks time, the present administration would establish a new agency to be called Building Control Authority to see to the problems of building defects.