Stemming the tide of frequent building collapses

The building collapse that occurred on the Lagos Island, Lagos two weeks ago has, once again, opened the vista for governments at all levels to put safety on its front burner. TEMITOPE MUSOWO writes.

It was not as if last week Wednesday building collapse at Ita-Faaji area of Lagos state was the first in the country in recent times. What is important, however, is that one would have thought the dust would settle on such an unfortunate incident which claimed over 20 lives of school children since similar incidents had occurred in the past. While the nation was still mourning the loss of these lives in Lagos, a similar tragedy struck again, this time around, in Ibadan, the Oyo state capital where another three-storey building collapsed. This was last week Friday. However, unlike Lagos, rescue team were late in arriving at the scene of the Ibadan collapse due to inexplicable reasons.

Sources made available to Blueprint disclosed that a few days after the Lagos incident, another building collapsed at 57, Egerton Square, Oke- Arin on Lagos Island even although it was later denied by the authorities of Lagos state government.

Although, residents of the street said the denial was not unconnected with the fact that the collapse had to do with activities of the Lagos State Building Control Agency (LASBCA) that engaged unprofessional people in pulling down one of the buildings marked for demolition before the building came down on the residents.

The Massey Street, Ita-Faaji building collapse on Lagos Island was one disaster too many, with scores of schoolchildren involved either as causalities or survivors.

This incident left people with so many questions as to the role of the Ministry of Physical Planning and Urban Development who are supposed to regulate building construction and usage?

“How could such a building be used for school and the state ministry of education charged with responsibility of regulating school standard, looked the other way?” asked a parent, Mrs Joke Sanya.

Continuing further, she said, “Why would the officials Lagos State Building Control Agency leave a house that has been marked for demolition for over a year until it claimed over 20 lives?

“Who are the developers who put peoples live to this kind of risk because of their own selfish gain?”

Investigation shows that some persons put the blame on the parents who saw the distressed building where the school is located and still took their children to there. Many say it is because of the school fees charged but beyond that and the blame game, when will the government be alive to its responsibility of ensuring that buildings are constructed according to standard?

Similar incidents in the past

Lagos, had in recent times, been visited with one disaster after another. For instance, it was on June 20, 2018 that a truck loaded with boards and plywood tilted on the Ojuelegba Bridge in Surulere, Lagos where three persons: a commercial bus driver, his conductor and a passenger lost their lives in the incident.

Similar accidents had claimed lives in the last four years in Lagos. In one of the incidents in September 2015, in which three members of the same family died, the relations filed a N10 billion compensation suit at the Lagos High Court.

Still fresh in our memory was the Otedola Link Bridge tanker fire disaster of June 28 last year that left over 12 people died and many vehicles burnt.

Again, on January 31 2019, another explosion caused by spillage from a petrol-laden tanker at the Barrack Bus Stop on the Lagos-Badagry Expressway, Ojo area of Lagos, resulted in death of two persons and destruction of property worth millions.

It was gathered that the 33,000-litre capacity tanker fell at a bad portion of the road and spilled its content.

“After what people wished should not be a temporary holiday from tanker-related fire incident, containers falling off articulated lorries, and so on, it has come to a season of building collapses in a modern city such as Lagos,” said Pa Adebamiji Lateef, a 60-year-old plywood seller in Amukoko.

Investigative panel set up

Expectedly, the state government has taken a fresh action regarding the building collapse at the Lagos Island.

It has set up a five-man panel to investigate the ugly occurrence, according to the state commissioner for physical planning and urban development, Rotimi Ogunleye, who inaugurated a panel to investigate the immediate and remote causes of the incident last week Tuesday.

Ogunleye said the terms of reference of the panel included proffering remedial measures to stem further building collapse in the future, as well as determining the level of negligence on the part of the developer or owner and the role of the state government.

The commissioner gave assurance that the recommendations would be appraised for implementation by the state government to stem the tide of such occurrences in future.

“After the panel submits its report, we are waiting to see if it will not end there as usual,” said Pa Lateef who said the people are tired of endless panels without action.

After the Ita-Faaji incident, Blueprint learnt that the Lagos State Building Control Agency began a demolition exercise on about 180 houses already marked for demolition across Lagos metropolis. This is according to the general manager of LASBCA, Mr Lekan Shodehinde.

Shodehinde, who was represented by the agency’s secretary, Mr Tayo Fakolujo, during the demolition exercise, said the building would be destroyed in phases.

According to him, about 30 houses had already been demolished on the island in the last one year, while 150 had been marked for demolition.

“We are doing this so that no more lives will be lost in Lagos.

“For others that are still occupied, we are going to evict the occupants to avoid disaster because their lives are more important to us,” he said.

It is hoped that these incidents have taught governments at various levels a lesson about doing the right thing at the right time.

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