Says structural failure accounts for 24% of collapse cases

Lagos State Government has said that it will soon begin aggressive enforcement of building control laws in the state and award necessary penalties for infractions to further curb incidents of building collapse.

It also cautioned stakeholders in the building sector that ‘no amount of money is worth losing any life,’ adding that the onus is equally on artisans to ask engineers on construction sites to confirm the safety of sites before they start work.

The state’s Commissioner for Physical Planning and Urban Development, Dr Oluyinka Olumide, while speaking during an online forum – Ask Lagos – entitled: “Building Collapse in Lagos: What are the issues and solutions?” disclosed that the recently launched Certified Accreditors’ Programme (CAP), involving all professionals in building sector, was part of schemes to ensure zero-building collapse, and expand the scope of supervision of various buildings within the state.

He said the government would continue to come out tough on building development in the state, explaining that the laws are there and urged professionals to protect their integrity and avoid putting their names at risk.

The commissioner noted that the Ojodu building collapse was erected and left for quite some times, spanning 13-years according to record before the owner decided to continue. He, however, reiterated that any site where buildings collapse and claim lives, the government would take over the land according to the law.

Meanwhile, the Commissioner for Information and Strategy, Gbenga Omotoso, who said the recent building collapse in the state was unnecessary because there are measures that the state government has put into place to stop such waste of human life and the disrespect for humanity, said: “When people do things that they are not supposed to do, especially concerning the environment and the built environment, they have been unfair to what nature has given us and things put together to give us comfort.”

“There is a way we do things in this part of the world in a manner that turns them into an agent of discomfort.

“A building that has been there for a decade, people just wake up and decide to put another floor on it and you can’t put a new structure on an old structure without involving an engineer. It will definitely come down. Whoever has done that, must have taken away people’s right to life. He, therefore, commiserated with families of the victims that lost their lives in the building collapse.