Sanwo-Olu vows to end building collapses

Governor Babajide Sanwo-Olu of Lagos State on Thursday said his administration was committed to ending incidents of building collapse in the state.

Sanwo-Olu said this while delivering the keynote address for the second edition of Lagos State Building Control Agency Stakeholders Engagement held at The Balmoral Convention Centre, Sheraton Hotel, Ikeja.

Speaking to the theme ‘Professionalism Across Board in the Built Environment,’ the governor said one major challenge faced by the government was the lack of citizens’ strict adherence to building codes which often translated to complete disregard for building regulations by homeowners and developers.

“While we realise that shelter is of utmost importance, we constantly advocate that as responsible citizens, there is a need to build right in order to have buildings that are safe, healthy and preserved for future generations.

“It is very crucial at this point in our history to enforce building regulations to the latter so as to prevent illegal, haphazard and poorly constructed buildings that are detrimental to the well-being of Lagosians. That is why we are strongly advocating that only professionals should be engaged in building constructions in the state,” Sanwo-Olu said.

He said his administration was “very passionate about ending issues of building collapse in Lagos State and this has informed the introduction of the Certified Accreditors Programme whereby professionals in the built sector will be involved in both the approval processes and inspection of building projects.”

Last week, LABSCA said it would start closing down buildings under construction in the state that were not supervised by relevant professionals in the built environment.

The General Manager of LASBCA, Gbolahan Oki, made this known while setting up an ad hoc task force to enforce the directive in his office in Ikeja.

According to Sanwo-Olu, professionals who should be engaged in the building construction industry are certified builders, architects, structural/civil engineers, geologists, mechanical and electrical engineers.

“I daresay that engaging only these professionals will solve 70 per cent of the challenges of building collapse across the state. Therefore, it is now mandatory that all relevant professionals in the built environment are fully engaged in any building construction in the state,” he said.