The Lagos State government on Thursday appealed to artisans, developers, built environment professionals in the construction industry value chain to support initiatives to reduce building collapse in the state.
The General Manager, Lagos State Building Control Agency (LASBCA), Mr Gbolahan Oki, made the appeal at a two-day workshop organised by the agency in Oregun, Lagos.
The workshop for Management and Middle Level Management/Technical Officers had the theme: “Repositioning LASBCA for Better Service Delivery.”
Oki said experts had been searching for solutions but collaboration between the government and stakeholders was important “in order to ensure that building collapse was reduced to its barest minimum.”
According to him, the core problem of building collapse is contravention of building construction laws by artisans.
He said the government could not do it alone hence the call for joint efforts in curbing the menace to save lives and prevent loss of investments.
“We realise that in construction, the welder, bricklayers, engineers and every other stakeholder are important. That is why we are sitting here to discuss how to move the construction world forward.
“Building collapse is beyond the issue of architect or welder, but we need to address it collectively. The core problem is the attitude problem,” he said.
Oki said most artisans or developers did not obey government’s directives in building construction, which was responsible for the rising cases of building collapse.
“So many lives have been lost and we cannot bring them back but every demolished house can be replaced. The lives of Lagosians are very important to us and we need to do the right thing always,” he said.
The General Manager added that the agency would ensure strict enforcement of physical planning laws against those building without the agency’s approval, adding that they would be arrested after several warnings.
A developer, Mrs Valentina Olalade, advised colleagues to pay more attention to quality assurance by building good structures.
“Mistakes in building are not something you can easily say you want to correct or go back to change. This is why as developers, we need to pay attention in ensuring that we build the right way.
“One of the ways to end building collapse is to ensure that the agency and artisans put us on our toes to ensure that we do the right thing always.
“This simply means that nothing should be swept under the carpet. This would help to build more habitable buildings and prevent collapse,” she said.
Also, a member of Real Estate Developers Association, Mr Kabiru Olaniyinka, suggested that the issue of building approval by LASBCA should be strictly followed to ensure that defaulters received severe punishment to serve as deterrence.
