The Lagos State Government has warned the residents to keep off all collapsed building site land until necessary scientific tests are carried out and investigations concluded to determine reasons for the building collapse.
Speaking during a meeting with the five newly-posted Divisional Heads and Monitoring officers at the Lagos State Building Control Agency, the General Manager, Engr. Nurudeen Shodeinde warned Lagosians that collapsed building site land is not safe for habitation and also dangerous for any human activities until necessary soil tests must have been carried out to determine the extent of the damage and pressure on such land.
Shodeinde said that it is regrettable that after unsafe buildings might have been sealed owners of such property still go ahead to break sealed premises to conduct illegal renovation and construction in violation of the law, adding that such buildings often give way from illegal renovation by owners.
The General Manager, therefore, warned that henceforth, the agency will employ the full weight of the law on violators of Lagos State Building Control Laws of the State.
He said further that the State expects all property owners and developers to employ the services of qualified and skilled professionals for building construction to stem the tide of building collapse.
According to him, it is mandatory for individuals and corporate organisations to obtain all necessary building permits, address all safety issues, test all building materials and ensure that structures being put in place are secure for habitation as all these will go a long way to prevent further occurrence of building collapse.
Consequently, the State Government had erected keep-off signposts on the entire collapsed building sites in the State in order to safeguard the lives of people in such areas and will, therefore, sanction any trespassers on such land, including owners and developers of the collapsed buildings, in line with the State Enforcement Laws.
