LASG Identifies 700 Abandoned Buildings For Demolition

The Lagos State government says that it has discovered over 700 distressed and abandoned buildings across the metropolis.

The government said that it would publishes names and addresses of the 71 distressed houses before commencing enforcement of the building regulations laws and demolition of such structures, expressing worry that residents of most identified weak properties are yet to move out of the structures.

Speaking on the rate of distressed building and impending building collapse, the General Manager of the Lagos State Building Control Agency (LASBCA), Mrs Abiola Koshegbe, an engineer, said that the agency had gathered information about the distressed buildings and that adequate steps will be taken on them.

On the number of identified buildings, she said: “All together, we have identified 700 buildings. Out of the 700 distressed and abandoned building, some of them need to under integrity test to ascertain that they are truly distressed. Before removing them, we have to serve them notices and follow all the due processes.

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“In the next two weeks, will publish the names, the list of the 71 properties out of the 700 identified and we will commence the removals. It is going to be gradual process, we hope to catch the most critical distressed property as quickly as possible and ensure that they are removed are fast as possible for the safety of the residents.”

According to her, the LASBCA had started data collection of all buildings across the state, particularly on Lagos Island, adding that all the structures identified and marked as distressed would be removed soon to forestall incidence of building collapse.

She added: “If you look around you will see there is a lot of distressed buildings. Many are tilted to one side while others have foundation issues. We want to ensure regeneration of the environment, distressed buildings will be removed while better and safer buildings will come up.”

Reacting to the allegations that her agency only intensifies enforcement and marks buildings only when there is a fresh case of building collapse, Koshegbe said: “That’s not correct, people don’t want to quit a distressed building even when our officers serve then quit notice for the safety of their lives. Nobody wants to find him or herself under rubble.”