75% of buildings in Lagos unapproved, Govt laments

IBRAHIM QUADRI

Lagos State Government on Wednesday lamented increasing number of unapproved buildings in the State, saying there are plans in place to ensure stakeholders comply with required regulations.

The State Commissioner for Physical Planning and Urban Development, Dr Oluyinka Olumide gave the charge during a press briefing at Alausa, Ikeja.

The briefing was to herald Physical Planning Summit scheduled to take place on October 15 and 16 at Eko Hotels, Lagos where stakeholders are to brainstorm on ways to chart a better course for the State development.

With the theme, ‘Thinking Lagos: A new vision for a regional and integrated megacity,’ there will be convergence of both private and public sectors to address challenges in physical planning within the State.

According to the Commissioner, presently less than 25 percent of buildings in Lagos got approval, saying this must be addressed.

Olumide said, “We are committed to benchmarking accordingly and arriving at the masterplan. Building approvals in Lagos are below 25 percent. Across the country, we have between 18 to 28 percent and the highest is 32 percent.

“We have a lot of challenges so we must ensure that we increase the percentage. This is one planet earth we have and every one has a name, the same thing applies to to structures, every building must get approval.”

He highlighted some of the buildings that are due for demolition in the state which include, building without approval, structures under high tension, power lines, buildings on drainages, buildings on gas lines among others.

The Commissioner added, “We have positioned ourselves to ensure that we tackle the challenges. It is going to be a talk shop, we have to map out actions plan of what we intend to achieve and periodically back it up with what we want.

“It is high time to rethink Lagos. Lagos, as we know is a megacity, we must position our state to continue to enjoy that status.

“You would agree with me that the land as we are given, is fixed and we have 3,577 kmsq, 75 percent is water and the population strength keeps increasing and we all believe we must be in Lagos, this poses a lot of stress on our land and infrastructures.

“We have to put plans in place to meet up with the available land. The summit plans to go from higher order to lower order. What we now run is bottom-up-approach. The percentage of building approval is low, we need to meet, to reach out to the people.”

Citing an example, the Commissioner stated the Badagry masterplan, “there is need to go to the locals in the ancient town especially the fishermen, what are the challenges? How do we help them, the facilities to be provided to take care of the people, we look at the trends of development of the area

“For instance, we have to look at the associated demand for education, are the people inclined to private or public schools and if those plans are produced, it is a property of both the government and the people.

“So in terms of execution, it is important to extend up to private people to buy into the plan. We have the plan within the range of 10 to 20 years. Stakeholders from international partners like World Bank, AfDB.”