LASG Blames Developers As Another Three-Storey B uilding Collapses

In Lagos State’s Apapa Government Reserved Area, a second three-story structure fell to the ground on Sunday.

Just two weeks had passed since the collapse of a seven-story skyscraper in the state’s Banana Island when the building under construction on Ladipo Oluwole Street in Apapa caved in.

The construction of the Banana Island skyscraper, which claimed one life, was allegedly started without a permit by the developers, according to the state administration.

The developers of the Apapa building, which partially fell on Sunday, were also charged by the state government with disobeying its directives about the project, according to a similar accusation.

No casualties were recorded in the partial collapse, according to our correspondent, as construction workers were reportedly on Eid-el-Fitri break on Sunday when the tragedy happened.

ANAEDOONLINE Metro gathered that the building collapsed shortly after the downpour recorded in parts of the statement.

In a statement by the Deputy Director, Public Affairs of the Ministry for Physical Planning and Urban Development, Mukaila Sanusi, the state government said the builders ignored the stop work and seal up orders of the state Building Control Agency and continued construction behind the scene.

The News Agency of Nigeria quoted the statement as saying that the collapsed building, which was flagged on the Physical Planning incident management platform on Sunday evening, triggered immediate preliminary enquiries.

According to it, investigations show that officers of the LASBCA had issued many contravention notices, stop work and seal up orders which the developer ignored and carried on construction without any recourse to the authorities.

The statement added that there was no report of any casualty, while the site had been cordoned off and taken over by LASBCA

“This particular incident, like similar others, reinforces governments repeated calls for responsible behaviour on the part of all stakeholders in the built environment.
“Lagos State Government has immediately activated inquires into the collapse to unravel the minute details and guide appropriate actions,” the statement said.

Meanwhile, the National President, Building Collapse Prevention Guild, Suleiman Yusuf, asserted that the professionals were paying the price negatively, as the incessant collapse fostered by greed was damaging the image of the industry.

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He said, “Greed is the major weakness of most developers. We pray to God to help them overcome this evil spirit. When people are passionate about a cause, performance in a voluntary service becomes remarkable. What could have motivated BCPG members into doing work that lacked material gains?

“In this global village, every news of building collapse causes incalculable damage to the reputation of the Nigerian built environment professional. He or she is regarded as inferior in the eyes of foreign counterparts.

“The price being paid by the Nigerian construction professionals is high in image damage due to the activities of quacks. Hence, the earlier the menace of building collapse is put to rest, the better for the practitioners in the Nigerian building industry.”

Decrying the incessant building collapse, a past President, BCPG, Kunle Awobodu, said the frequency of building collapse in the country was high, embarrassing, and could no longer be excused.

Meanwhile, the rainfall recorded on Sunday also resulted in flash floods in parts of the motorists.

Some major roads were flooded, thereby causing traffic gridlock on the affected routes.

On the Ikorodu Road, traffic on both sides of Odo-Iyalaro Bridge near Ojota was at a point brought to a standstill due to a flash flood.

It took the intervention of men of the Lagos State Traffic Management Authority to ease the traffic.

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