Lagos declares 231 demolished, 29 collapsed buildings in two years

The Lagos State government has declared that 231 distressed buildings were demolished while 29 buildings collapsed in the state in the past two years.

The Commissioner for Physical Planning and Urban Development for Lagos State, Dr Idris Salako, disclosed this at a ministerial press briefing marking the second anniversary of the administration of Governor Babajide Sanwo-Olu.

Salako, while highlighting some of the achievements of the administration, noted that four model city plans and three master plans had been awarded to address infrastructural deficiencies within the state.

The Commissioner also cited the 30 action plans across various communities in Lagos, the approval of 12 layout plans and the delivery of right of way for 30 projects.

He announced that as part of its major policy reforms, the state was enforcing a zero-tolerance policy on illegal building development and charged residents to desist from erecting buildings without permits or recourse to the Lagos State Building Control Agency.

Salako revealed that 32,522 properties in Lagos were served statutory notices, with 1,211 dilapidated structures identified.

He recounted the state’s order on the status of abandoned buildings and warned that all such buildings within the state must be completed or risk forfeiture.

Fielding questions with respect to the state’s road infrastructure, Salako said, “As at today, the Lekki-Epe Express Road has reached its maximum capacity. We need additional roads to take the pressure off that axis. I can tell you that contract for the fourth mainland road will be awarded before the end of this year.”

The commissioner decried the allegations of sharp practices levelled against officials of the ministry regarding marked buildings.

According to him, “One thing most of us don’t know which we should know is that we have these red marks placed on properties. Sometimes, we stop work for a week, two weeks, one month, three years and all of a sudden work starts again. What comes into the public’s mind is that we’ve collected money; we’ve been compromised – no.

“We have processes. Even when we stop you from working and we mark your property, you’re supposed to go through certain processes to right the wrongs. You’re supposed to submit engineering reports and tidy up approvals.

“If the developer has gone through these stages since the red mark is already there, it might give the misconception that we’ve been compromised. We came up with green stickers to show that such properties have been cleared.”

The commissioner called on the general public to “adhere strictly to planning and building laws in order to reap the maximum benefit of improved living standards and provide a liveable and sustainable environment.”