Over 500 Buildings May Collapse In Lagos Soon--Commissioner

Commissioner for Physical Planning and Urban Development, Abiola Anifowoshe, has issued a stern warning to owners of distressed and abandoned buildings in Lagos State for them to put such buildings into shape before June 3, 2016, deadline or face prosecution.

Anifowoshe gave this warning yesterday during his ministerial press briefing at the state secretariat, Alausa Ikeja.

The Guardian reports that the commissioner said the government was taking an inventory of abandoned buildings in the state and had identified over 500 distressed buildings.

According to him, he said: “Recently, the ministry published the first batch of these abandoned buildings and has since issued a 90-day ultimatum to owners to take possession or be ready to face the wrath of the law. We would continue to carry out our ministerial responsibilities until every building constructed in Lagos State is fit for human habitation.

I have published over 500 distressed and abandoned buildings.

We have identified them and we have evacuated the occupants. We have sealed off the buildings. It cost the government huge amount of money to pull down any building. And the government cannot put all its money in demolition alone. That was why we decided to embark on the exercise in phases.”

He added that: “The buildings we have identified were the ones we know are dangerous for habitation, and we have given the owners three months ultimatum to correct the error. And by June 3, the ultimatum will expire. The government will do the needful if they fail to abide by the ultimatum.”

The commissioner stated that beyond this, “the government has put measures in place to curb the incidence of building collapse in Lagos by adopting compulsory integrity test of building and construction materials in conjunction with the state materials testing laboratory”.

Anifowoshe stressed that the government was determined to ensure that Lagos remained the Centre of Excellence and that it was resolute on its commitment to zero tolerance for building collapse.

In his words, “To those who would rather engage in illegal development, I must reiterate government’s determination to ensure that no developer would be allowed to put people’s lives at risk. Developers who engage in illegal development would face the full wrath of the law and forfeit such property to government”.

He called on all stakeholders – developers, owners, occupiers and professionals in the environment sector to join hands with government and explore the limitless opportunities available in the ministry to obtain necessary permits and approvals for their developments.

This, he said, would curb the unwholesome trend of illegal development and needless loss of lives and property.

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