Fresh indications emerged on Saturday that several officers in the Lagos State Ministry of Physical Planning and Urban Development as well as its sister agencies risk losing their jobs, following the September 12 collapse of the six-storey guest house building at the Synagogue Church of All Nations, in Ikotun, a suburb of Lagos.
Sunday Independent gathered from a reliable source that the incidence has opened a can of worms involving officers saddled with the responsibility of regulating and approving the construction of buildings in the state.
A reliable source in the Ministry of Physical Planning and Urban Development who spoke to our correspondent on anonymity said the State Governor, Mr. Babatunde Fashola is gravely displeased with the negligence of officers at the Lagos State Building Control Agency (LASBCA) before the collapse.
The source said some officials of LASBCA prefer to cut corners and enrich themselves at the expense of carrying out their duties, allowing developers to erect structures without any formal approval from the agency.
According to the source, “The problem with the building control officials is that they connive with developers. Whenever a building is coming up, they ought to go there and inspect the prospective buildings, but rather than do that, they go there, negotiate, collect money and turn a blind eye.
Sunday Independent gathered that some officers demand as much as N500, 000 from developers as ‘fee’ to enable them carry on with work, with many preferring to opt for the option rather than follow due process.
“It’s happening all over. Majority of the buildings springing up in the state, they don’t have planning permit. Some even build on the road and setbacks. You can hardly go to any street without seeing a building coming up, it’s so sad that you see building control officers go to these streets with letters, but at the end of the day they go behind to collect money and the building continues”.
The source said the oversight of the district officers to identify the erection of the six-storey guest house at the Synagogue Church apparently contributed largely to its collapse, noting that the building would have been sealed off, since it had no approval.
“Synagogue Church itself is like a community on its own. It’s a place you cannot just access anyhow, but that does not go to say that there was no connivance between district control officers and the church.
“The building is not hidden and there is no way it couldn’t have been seen, it’s a tall building. Aside that, they have informants everywhere who tell them when a building is coming up somewhere. Why is it that in a remote street, you see them go there, why couldn’t they have seen the Synagogue building? It’s part of the problems the agency is facing”.
The source added that Governor Fashola has ordered the Commissioner for Physical Planning and Urban Development, Olutoyin Ayinde to take decisive actions and sanction any officer found culpable of conniving or negligence.
Sunday Independent also gathered that the state government is waiting for the Coroner to complete its investigations before it wields the sticks on the officials.
“With the way things are going, some of the district officers will be redeployed from their current duty posts, while some are likely going to be sanctioned. That is how serious the situation is at the moment”, the source said.
Despite the pending hammer, Sunday Independent investigations revealed that several officers still engage in sharp practices, request for money from developers, while assuring them of clearing all obstacles.
The source also attributed the lapses in LASBCA to the inability of the General Manager, Mrs. Abimbola Animashaun to tame her staff and keep a close tab of the activities in the agency.
“The problem within the agency is that the General Manager does not seem to be in control of officers who are working with her. At a point it has been alleged that she has been conformist. She has no managerial capability and everybody has become a boss of his own. Even buildings that she herself went personally to seal, few days after you see that development is still going on there. The owner will connive with people working with her and unseal the property and continue work”, the source said.
Culled from Sunday Independent
