Lagos To Demolish 57 Distressed Buildings
The Lagos State Building Control Agency (LASBCA), on Monday, said 57 distressed buildings will be pulled down across the metropolis to stem the tide of collapsed buildings in the state.
LASBCA officials hinted that thirty-four of the buildings billed for demolishion are on Lagos Island.
Officials of LASBCA, escorted by armed policemen, stormed the Island yesterday morning to begin demolition of the affected buildings.
General Manager, LASBCA, Engr. Lekan Shodehinde said the demolition was under the first phase of the demolition of distressed buildings approved by Governor Akinwunmi Ambode.
Shodehinde said the buildings had been distressed over time and that government had served owners of the structures notices.
He said that the exercise was being carried out to stem the tide of collapsed buildings in the state, saying that government would not fold its arm and allow buildings to collapse indiscriminately across the metropolis.
He disclosed that 13 buildings were billed for demolition on Monday, adding that the exercise would last for two weeks.
Shodehinde disclosed that the agency had identified 114 distressed buildings that needed to be demolished across the metropolis, adding that the others would be demolished during the second phase of the exercise.
Shodehinde explained that once a distressed building had been demolished by the government, the owner would be given 90 days to pay the demolition cost, failure for which government would seize the land.
He said before a building would be demolished, the owner would be given ample time to remedy the situation, which included subjecting the property to integrity test.
The LASBCA General Manager stated that if after the test had been carried out and the property was found to be unsafe, it would be demolished.
The buildings being demolished range from two-storey to four-storey buildings.