BY Olasunkanmi Akoni & Monsur Olowoopejo

Governor Babatunde Fashola of Lagos State, Monday, at the inauguration of a six-man tribunal of enquiry on collapsed buildings, threatened owners of buildings without state building approval with severe sanctions henceforth, following recent cases of building collapse in the state.

Fashola who spoke at the inauguration of a six-man tribunal of enquiry on collapsed building, chaired by Mrs. Abimbola Ajayi, explained that the measure was taken to checkmate the spate of collapse buildings in the state.

He said: “Incidents of collapsed building break my heart whenever it occurs. It is true that we could replace a defective building but we cannot replace lost life.

“It challenges us as a government. So if you build against the approval that we have given, we will pull down that building or we will compel the person to reduce the house to the approval he or she got from us.

“We will not spare anyone in this regard because when building collapsed, it is the government that everyone looks to. It is time to stop this incident of building collapse.

“It is a sign of backwardness for us as a nation. It is a challenge on our professionals. If professionals in the world build skyscrapers and it does not collapse and we build three storey building and they collapse within a short time of completion.

“Over the years, building collapse has been an issue that has challenged the state government capacity to protect lives and property.

“And it has been an environment of missed blessings. Many years ago, the problem facing this state were incident of building under construction suddenly giving way. Now we have transcended from some of those challenges, as they have drastically reduced.

“But the new issue confronting the state is buildings that have been constructed within 10 years ago and suddenly giving way.”

Warning the public officer, Fashola said “And as I charge you to work, the state government will hold any officers responsible for the violation that occurred in districts where the building collapsed. Sanction will be meted accordingly to such officer who compromised processes for securing building permits in the state.”

On the Tribunal
Fashola said: “The tribunal would help the state government to also look into the quality of building material used in the state specifically those that collapsed recently.

“Inspect existing building and Estates in the state.  And make recommendation and measures to prevent cases of building collapse in the state.”

The governor said that the tribunal was constituted to include professional “because whenever a building is erected, a professional is involved. There is need to bring them in to provide a lasting solution.”