BY GEORGE OKOJIE, Lagos
Lagos State Government on Monday demolished and structures erected in Banana Island located in highbrow, Ikoyi area of the state without compliance to the state building laws and regulations to restore its shorelines.
The state government enforcement team led by the Commissioner for Physical Planning and Urban Development, Dr Idris Salako pulled down three two-storey buildings under construction for not getting approval to build the structure that encroached on the state shoreline.
The commissioner who said the developers of the homes had earlier been served stop work notice by the Lagos State Building Control Agency (LASBCA) warned that the state government would not condone fragrant abuse of the state building laws and shoreline because it has noticed many residents are building property without due recourse to state agencies for approval.
The Commissioner said: “The gradual takeover of the waterways is a problem. In our master plan, the regional highway ought to pass through this route but there is gradual encroachment on the way.
“In terms of climate change, gradual reduction in the capacity of the lagoon to flow freely and the consequence the state would be made to grapple with in the future. If there is heavy downpour today, residents in Parkview Estate, on the other side of the lagoon, would be in crisis because their community would be flooded. This is because people built beyond what was approved.”
Salako said the enforcement became necessary because the state government felt there was need to do something to halt the illegality.
“The governor was here yesterday with the strong instruction that land reclaimed beyond what was approved should be demolished. We would continue to monitor to ensure that building laws and regulations are complied it and it should even be voluntary compliance.”
Dwelling on why the two-storey buildings were pulled down, Salako said:” The buildings that were pulled down is a peculiar case because the owner and developer could not provide approval and clearance to reclaim land before the metres he got from the state Land Bureau and Ministry of Waterfront.’’
Also, the Commissioner for Waterfront Infrastructure and Development, Ahmed Kabiru Abdullahi said the state government cannot continue to fold its hands and watch as the degradation of its environment.
