Lagos government set to demolish 70 defective buildings
The Lagos State Building Control Agency (LASBCA) has announced that it has demolished a partially collapsed building at No. 19, Church Str, Lagos Island and it is set to demolish 70 others.
A statement on Friday by LASBCA spokesman, Mr Gbadeyan Abdulraheem, said the General Manager of the agency Mr Gbolahan Oki, supervised the demolition exercise.
Speaking at the demolition site, Oki said it has became an urgency to immediately remove the dilapidated and distressed building, which was no longer fit for human habitation to prevent collapse.
He disclosed that several other defective buildings had been marked for removal to rid the state of defective buildings.
Oki noted that his team had earlier visited the distressed building site to get an on the spot assessment and urged the residents to relocate for their safety.
He said the agency had identified and marked 70 other distressed buildings within the state for removal, adding that 20 of the structures were discovered on Lagos Island.
The General Manager assured that due process would be followed for Non Destructive Tests (NDTs) to be carried out on affected buildings in order to ascertain their structural integrity.
According to him, the test would also determine if the buildings could be either renovated or demolished if found not safe for human habitation.
Oki also reiterated that the “government has absolute zero tolerance for building collapse; hence all building codes regulation within the state would be strictly enforced”.
He pointed out that the enforcement would include ensuring all buildings above two floors obtained insurance, as contained in the Building Regulations 2019 (as amended).
He advised developers and property owners to always do the right thing by involving LASBCA at various stages of construction works and obtaining all requisite approvals and completion certificates.
Oki appealed to Lagos residents to assist government to achieve its aim of creating a safer state by reporting substandard construction and dilapidated structures within their locality to the agency.
