Lagos State Government has vowed to go tough on owners of buildings in the state without approval, disclosing that less than 25 percent of buildings in the state have building approval.
The State Commissioner for Physical Planning and Urban Development, Dr. Oluyinka Olumide, made this known on Wednesday while briefing newsmen about a scheduled summit themed “Rethinking Lagos: A new vision for a regional and integrated megacity,” holding between the 15th and 16th of October at Eko Hotels, Victoria Island, Lagos.
The commissioner said the essence of the summit is to position the state to enjoy the status of a megacity against the various challenges, pointing out that it would be a unique one “to map out what we want to achieve and back it up.”
Olumide, while sadly noting that the percentage of buildings with approval in the state, comprising 3,577 km2 of land and 75 per cent water, coupled with a mass influx of people, creating threats, remained low, and, therefore, the need “to look at it and address these challenges, the legal framework and financial framework,” said there was a need for the state to make a plan to meet up with the challenges.
“That is why we are having the summit. We want a bottom-to-top approach; go to the grassroots.
“The percentage of buildings with approval in the state is low; we want people to look at it and address these challenges, the legal framework and financial framework.
“We carried out some study on the level of approvals; compared to other states, approval in Lagos State is below 25 per cent. We have between 18 and 28 per cent in other states, and the highest is 32 per cent,” he said.
According to him, the state has a lot of challenges to redeem, disclosing that there were plans in place to ensure stakeholders in the state comply with required regulations before putting up a structure.
He, however, highlighted some of the buildings that are due for demolition in the state, including those without approval, structures, and buildings under high-tension wires on drainages and gas lines, among others.
“We have to put plans in place to meet up with the available land. The summit plans to go from lower order to higher order. What we now run is a bottom-up approach. The percentage of building approval is low; we need to meet to reach out to the people,” he said.
Speaking further, the commissioner stated that the Badagry master plan has so far been distorted, saying that a portion of land reserved for waste management in the area had been converted to residential buildings.
This was just as he affirmed that approval can’t be granted for buildings that are on any land that falls under committed acquisition, declaring that buildings found “on the wasteland will go.”
