Building collapse: LASG holds public hearing

PROFESSIONALS and other stakeholders in the building construction industry on Tuesday at a day public hearing called for the involvement and collaboration of all professionals in the built sector and related government agencies in putting up buildings to avoid building collapse in Lagos State.

The public hearing, which took place at the Bagauda Kaltho Press Centre, Alausa, Ikeja and organised by Ministry of Physical Planning and Urban Development, was in respect of the collapsed building at 63 Massey Street, Ita-Faaji, Lagos Island.

They equally urged for strict application of building regulations by the state government and prosecution of developers, owners and builders who failed to adhere to the regulations as required by law.

All the seven institutes in the industry, as well as all relevant government Agencies, including Nigerian Institute of Architects (NIA), Nigerian Institute of Building (NIOB), Nigerian Society of Engineers (NSE) and Nigerian Institute of Town Planners (NITP), were duly represented and made presentations at the hearing.

Others are; Nigerian Institution of Estate Surveyors and Valuers (NIESV), Nigerian Institute of Quantity Surveyors (NIQS) and Nigerian Institute of Surveyors (NIS).

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According to them, most of the cases of collapsed buildings were due to the involvement of quacks instead of professionals handling the buildings, saying they used substandard materials without the involvement of the relevant government building agencies.

The stakeholders, therefore, called for synergy between all the professionals in the industry and the relevant government Agencies as well as owners or developers to ensure that the right things were done before, during and even after building to end the menace of collapsed buildings.

The Building Collapse Prevention Group (BCPG) led by Mr Kunle Awobodu, in its presentation, identified problems such as: “Lack of comprehensive subsoil investigation before designs are done; Non-adherence to designs and professional advice during construction; Lack of effectiveness of government agencies charged with the monitoring of the building procurement and production process; Quackery at both pre- & post-contract stages; Use of substandard materials; Poor workmanship; Professional incompetence; Lack of Maintenance; Greed by Developers and Contractors” to have led to building collapse in Lagos.

Awobodu rolled out to also include: “Unrealistic construction timelines; Unrealistic desires of clients; Nocturnal concrete work; Improper, illegal or unprocessed and unapproved change in use; Lack of proper supervision during construction by relevant qualified professionals; Lack of coordinated phased inspection by relevant Government Development Control Agency; Inefficient handling of approval of building plans by relevant Government Development Control Authority; Non-compliance to Building Codes; Corruption by government (LASBCA) monitoring officials,” among others.

BCPG chief, while proffering a solution, called for the involvement of Architects, Civil, Structural, Mechanical and Electrical Engineers, Quantity Surveyors, Builders and Land Surveyors in all building construction work in the State.

Also speaking, LASEMA General Manager, Tiammiyu Adeshina, said the government will from yesterday begin to take in a displaced person’s from collapsed and marked buildings at its resettlement centre at Igando.

He, however, called for a law to empower LABSCA to demolish marked buildings within five months instead of leaving them for the owners who might not be willing to bring down the structure until they collapsed and killed people.

Speaking on behalf of Lagos Anti-demolition Movement, the convener, Ayo Ademiluyi, called for among other things Coroner’s Inquest into the Ita-Faaji collapsed building with a view to determining the number of the dead and injured.

He also called for the prosecution of government officials who were found negligent in their duty as regards timely demolition of the building; investigation into the quality of building materials by developers as well as prosecution of the developer.

Speaking further, Ademiluyi also called for the application of urban renewal strategies to the crisis of dilapidated and decrepit buildings in Lagos Island as well as compensation for the families of the deceased and wounded pupils.

In his remarks, chairman of the occasion, Engineer Wasiu Olokunola, who is chairman of the Ad-hoc Committee on the Ita-Faaji Building Collapse assured stakeholders that the committee would look into their submissions and report of all previous committees on building collapse in the State and come up with a recommendation to the government to tackle the menace in order to save lives and property in Lagos State.