• To remove buildings without approval after 90-day amnesty period
Lagos State government has allayed fears of victims of the recent Dosunmu fire incident of government abandoning them to their fate.
The Commissioner for Special Duty and Intergovernmental Relations, Mr Gbenga Oyerinde, and his counterpart at the Ministry of Physical Planning and Urban Development, Dr Olayinka Olumide, disclosed this at workshop organised by the LASBCA, which centred on “Understanding Building Control in Lagos State”.
The workshop was put together to address salient issues and misconceptions about activities of the Agency, as they relate to issuance of certifications and the importance of insurance in the building industry.
The commissioners disclosed that enumeration and collation of number of people affected have been concluded and very soon, the state government would make a pronouncement on the level of assistance that would be given to all the victims of the fire incident.
Earlier, Special Adviser to the Lagos State Governor on e-GIS and Urban Development, Dr Olajide Babatunde, has reiterated the government’s policy on building without approvals after the expiration of the 90 days amnesty period granted by the Lagos State governor.
He said the State Building Control Agency (LASBCA) would pull down such buildings. Babatunde spoke on the need for every building in the state to have a certificate of completion and fitness for habitation as well as an insurance policy that can be relied on during disaster period such as fire incidents.
According to him, as a step towards reduction in building collapse in the state, no building should be occupied in the state without possessing the Certificate of Completion and Fitness for Habitation issued by the State Building Control Agency, which is renewable every five years.
He reiterated the governor’s directives to owners of buildings with attachments to remove them immediately as the state will not allow such attachments again in any building across the state, noting that such attachment hinders rescue operations during emergencies.
“Henceforth, the state will continue to remove any attachment erected on buildings across the state because this attachment obstructs rescue operations during emergencies, especially during fire incidences.
“The state government through the Lagos State Building Control Agency has taken proactive measures to alert owners of buildings that are distressed in the state to pull them down as the state government published in three national daily, 359 distressed buildings across the state with over 90 per cent of such buildings pulled down by the owners to avoid disaster.”
In his remarks, the General Manager of LASBCA, Gbolahan Owodunni Oki, said that the importance of the workshop is to clear grey areas on the operations of LASBCA and how to go about getting the necessary certifications issued by the Agency.
Oki called on building owners in the state to do the right thing, because it is cheaper to do the right thing and obey all extant rules and regulations governing the building and construction industry in the state.
He noted that at the expiration of the Governor’s amnesty period, for owners of buildings to obtain approvals, the agency would go all out to request for details such as certificate for fitness and habitation issued by LASBCA after meeting all requirements and certificate of building insurance.
Oki advised developers to build according to specifications and the approval or permits given.
Earlier, an insurance consultant, Mr Yemi Solajoye, expressed the need for every building in the state to take insurance cover against any disaster, especially building collapse or fire outbreak.
He called for compulsory enforcement of insurance of buildings by owners in Lagos state as a way of mitigating losses during emergency periods.
While commending the organisers for putting the event together, a retired Director General of the Lagos State Safety Commissions, Mr Foud Oki, called for a more enlarge engagement with the public, especially at the grassroots where these building regulations infraction regularly takes place and professional made to speak in native indigenous language that can easily be understood by the natives.
