…Reads riot act to aides, developers
By Lukman Olabiyi
Lagos State Governor, Mr Babajide Sanwo-Olu, yesterday took a swipe at some of the aides over illegal construction going on in Banana Island, Ikoyi area of the state.
The governor indicted Federal Government on the illegality going on in the area, and also reads riot act to the people who he described as desperate property developers bending rules to put the lives of citizens in danger.
Sanwo-Olu who was infuriated with what he saw on Saturday at Banana Island, when he led a delegation of government officials for an on-the-spot assessment of the area, described many of the ongoing construction in the vicinity as “irresponsible and unacceptable.”
The governor conducted the inspection tour by the Commissioner for Physical Planning and Urban Development, Tayo Bamigbose-Martin, Commissioner for Information and Strategy, Gbenga Omotoso, Commissioner for Waterfront, Kabiru Abdullahi,
Special Adviser on Works and Infrastructure, Engr. Aramide Adeyoye, General Manager, Lagos State Building Control Agency (LABSCA), Gbolahan Oki, and other engineers.
The governor who did not hide his feeling regarding the rate of illegality going on in the area queried some of his aides about what he saw.
He immediately ordered for sealing of many ongoing construction sites, as well demolition of a two-storey building located at 310 Close.
Sanwo-Olu, however, blamed the collapse of the earlier seven-storey building on First Avenue, in Banana Island on what he called “reckless” operations of some developers hiding under the pretext of Federal Government agencies issuing building approvals for unsuspecting property owners.
Speaking with newsmen, Sanwo-Olu said, “We are at the site of the last unfortunate building collapse in Banana Island Lagos and I’m sure you have all gone round and seen the site.
“Like it has been reported before now, there has been a lot of investigation that is going on right now and you can see that they are still clearing the rubbles at the site.
“We have given the order to stop work, not only at this site but also in all of the construction sites in Banana Island.
“I think that the exercise we are doing today is not just about this location.
“You have all seen the extent of what I will call an unapproved extension into the water. You can see that the original line for Banana Island is even not where we are.
“It’s in front there and you can see that there are several extensions that have been granted by both the Federal Ministry of Work and Housing. These are the two federal agencies that have been culpable for those extensions.
“They have done these extensions even without our knowledge. We have the responsibility for building approvals and the rest of these.
“From what I have been told, all of the four buildings at the back have never even applied for approvals.
“The illegality is real and so that is why we are going around other properties in Banana Island.
“Excuses have been given that they don’t have access and this is not acceptable. This is total recklessness of all of the developers and we will make a strong point out of this place and all around Banana Island and in other developments that we have.
“The officers that will also be similarly found culpable will also be sanctioned, if any.
“But what we are doing right now is to set up an external seven-man committee. We are giving the people two weeks to independently ascertain what has gone wrong there.
“So they should finish their work maybe towards the end of next week or thereafter.
“And so, this will also further strengthen our hand to be able to also come up with a robust work plan that we can enforce going forward.
“In all of these places, it’s heartbreaking each time we have to go through these and it shows sometimes how irresponsible those developers and some of our citizens that just want to make quick money.
“And of course our officers who are also not alive to their responsibilities.
“We have had to change staff here and there so that we can bring forward a robost and very strong monitoring offices”.