Governor Babatunde Fashola of Lagos State has received the report of the Tribunal of Enquiry on incidence of collapsed buildings in the state, stating that the tribunal was set up to unravel the reasons behind past collapses in order to avoid future occurrences.
The governor, who spoke at the Lagos House, Ikeja, the Lagos State capital on Monday, said government takes its responsibility to protect the lives of residents of the state and any time there is a threat to the capacity to discharge that responsibility or indeed people have lost their lives, government wants to find out why and ask questions so that it can learn from such unfortunate incidents to avoid a recurrence.
The event was witnessed by Deputy Governor, Hon. Adejoke Orelope-Adefulire; Attorney General and Commissioner of Justice, Mr. Ade Ipaiye; Secretary to the State Government, Dr. Ranti Adebule; Commissioner for Physical Planning and Urban Development, Town Planner Olutoyin Ayinde; Commissioner for Housing, Mr. Bosun Jeje; and Commissioner for Local Government and Chieftaincy Matters, Prince Ademorin Kuye.
Members of the Tribunal of Enquiry that attended the event include Engineer Debo Adewale, Engineer Segun Adedeji, Architect Biodun Rufai, Town Planner Moses Ogunleye and Secretary of the Tribunal, Mr. Kehinde David.
Receiving the report, which is in eight volumes from the chairperson, Architect Abimbola Ajayi, Governor Fashola added that once those in the building industry know that the people are serious and everybody acts as the next person’s policeman, then things would fall into shape. The governor also sought to know why buildings no longer last up to 100 years.
“What did we do wrong then when we were building? Did we take full view of the terrain of Lagos Islands and swamps, largely reclaimed? Did we put the right foundation of piles in or did we use the wrong foundations for much more solid ground”? he asked.
He stated that the decision to choose a non-judicial officer as the chairperson of the tribunal was deliberate because the building industry of the economy consists of specialised professional builders, architects, civil engineers, structural engineers, mechanical and electrical engineers all of whom have some roles to play in the building of houses.
Speaking earlier, Chairperson of the Tribunal, Architect (Mrs) Abimbola Ajayi said the recommendations of the Tribunal would not only assist in finding lasting solutions to the incidence of building collapses but also provide needed relief for the issues of distressed buildings, unapproved construction, non-compliance with construction standards and eradication of unscrupulous activities of unqualified persons, non professional unregistered practitioners and greedy developers.
She added that the provisions of the law regulating the building industry were found to be adequate and that if fully implemented and strictly adhered to, they would ensure a reduction in incidences of building collapses in the state.
She said the weak implementation of the laws by relevant government agencies, flagrant abuses, deliberate flouting by the public, crass indiscipline and gross corruption by all and sundry rendered the laws ineffective.
“The 2010 law empowers the agencies but the system does not because of political, cultural and administrative and other interventions”, she observed.
“Although there is a provision of summary trial of violators and offenders in the laws examined by the tribunal, there is no record of any person prosecuted or sanctioned for incidences of building collapse by the Ministry of Justice, the Nigeria Police or any other known organ”.
She said the tribunal was tasked with finding out the immediate and remote causes of collapsed buildings within the state and to come up with appropriate recommendations on measures that would help in preventing future recurrence.
The Tribunal, she stressed, reviewed 130 cases of collapsed buildings between 2007 and 2013 out of which 10 sites were selected for inspection, adding that three buildings collapsed during the tenure of the tribunal while another two occurred after its assignment.
