The government of Lagos State has invited experts to speak out against the State’s construction collapses.
The appeal was made by Dr. Idris Salako, Commissioner for Physical Planning and Urban Development, at a workshop on building collapse that was held at the Branch Secretariat in Agege in honour of Engineering Week and organised by the Ikeja Branch of the Nigerian Society of Engineers (NSE).
The workshop was well-timed and aptly focused, according to the Commissioner, who was represented at the event by the Director of Technical Services, Tpl. Bola Aliu, as discussions at the time centred on efforts to promote standards and ethical practises required to eliminate building collapse in the State.
He said that building collapse had a devastating effect on private and public resources, ruined a family, and undermined social infrastructure.
He said that building collapse was multi-dimensional in terms of its causes and repercussions, which may be social, economic, and cultural.
Salako urged experts in the built environment to band together and eliminate the threat of building collapse in the State, emphasising that all stakeholders, including the government and professionals in the built environment, must be involved in efforts to battle the trend.
He noted that the Lagos State Government had taken several steps to prevent building collapse, including the establishment of the Lagos State Building Control Agency (LASBCA), an organisation solely in charge of development control, the use of drone technology to monitor the physical environment, and the hiring of about 100 recent graduates in a variety of professions, including engineers, architects, and town planners.
According to the Commissioner, such initiatives include, among others, routinely identifying and removing troubled properties and automating approval procedures.