•Agency identifies 114 buildings to be pulled down
Mixed reaction has continued to trail the demolition embarked on by the Lagos State Building Control Agency (LASBCA). The agency, on Monday, began the demolition of buildings it alleged were prone to collapse within the state. So far, the agency has identified 114 buildings to be demolished. Approval for demolition of 57 of the buildings in the first phase of the exercise has been given by governor Akinwunmi Ambode.
For Mrs. Adijat Adekunle, a 72-year-old fish seller on the Island, the demolition of a three-storey building at 152, Adeniji Adele Street, Lagos Island, belonging to the Aroba family is a welcome development, given the danger it posed to people in the area. She said the tenants have vacated the building a long time.
Also, a student at kwara state polytechnic, Mr. Babatunde Afolabi, of 3, Ajanaku street, Lagos Island, commended the state government’s effort on the demolition. He told The Nation that the demolished building was “too weak and could pose a danger to the lives of the people on the street.”
A retiree, who pleaded for anonymity because he resides on the same street housing the demolished building, said the structure, built in the 1990s, belonged to the Adeseye family. According to him, it was clear from the time of construction that the building had structural integrity issues. Hence, according to him, it was a welcome development that the building was pulled down by government.
At 54 Aroloya street, Lagos island, a 40-year-old barber and father of one, Mr. Bolaji Abdulahi, who has lived in the area for 15 years, explained that the house, belonging to the Olokodana family, had long been vacated by the tenants because of the state it was in. He revealed that entreaties by the community to the children of the owner to either renovate the house or pull it down fell on deaf ears. So, the LASBCA initiative of pulling down the house was a welcome development for him.
But it was not all praises for the agency. Some residents and perceived owners were bitter with LASBCA, asking them to pay for the demolition of their properties. Although they refused to be identified with their buildings for what they termed “security reason”, but they said the cost charged for the demolition was on the high side.
A man in his late 50s, who identified himself as ‘Sesan’, however described it as ridiculous when government expected him to pay to reclaim his family land after losing a property. To him, it amounted to double losses “How can they expect us to come and pay N250,000 to get the land back?” he asked rhetorically. Findings by The Nation revealed that the payment for the demolition starts from N100, 000, depending on the type of building.
According to Sesan, such money was ridiculous and unkind, given that all LASBCA did was to use hammer to break the buildings in bits and pieces and not pulling them down completely. “As you can see, the buildings they claim to have demolished are still standing; they only used hammer to break them in bits. So, is this what they expect us to pay such amount for as demolition? They are simply after generating revenue. If they had brought tractors to level the buildings and asked us to pay such amount then it would have been a different ball game,” he said amidst bitterness.
The demolition exercise, which began last Monday, according to LASBCA General Manager, Lekan Shodeinde, will be done in phases as soon as funding is available to the agency. “We have approval to pull down 57 houses, but we are starting today with 13 out of the 34 buildings we have identified on the Lagos Island and which we have fund for. So, as we get more fund we will continue with the exercise,” he said.
Explaining the process leading to demolition, he said before demolishing any building the agency will require the owner to conduct a “Non Defective Test”, which will be done within three weeks with the result sent to the agency. Non compliance with this will be deemed to mean that the building is distressed. “And we as an agency seeks approval to come and remove it,”he said.
The LASBCA boss explained that the choice of starting the demolition on the Lagos Island was premised on the preponderance of more distressed structuresalready identified in the area. He regretted that owners of such buildings have ignored advice by the government to remove the structures themselves, necessitating the agency’s proactive steps to avoid a disaster, which may result if the buildings fall off by themselves.
Commenting on the cost implication of the demolition and the ownership of the land occupied by a demolished building after such exercise, Shodeinde explained that the land still remains the property of the owner. The property owner, he said, is however required to pay the state government for the cost of demolition, which will be communicated to the property owner in writing.
“We are rendering a service to the property owner and not to confiscate the land because the building has not collapsed. We just remove the structure and communicate the cost to you, if you refund the cost to the government within 90 days the land is still yours; but if after 90 days of demanding for the refund of money and there is none, or we do not get a correspondence from the land owner, the land then stands forfeited to the government,” Shodeinde explained.
Findings by The Nation revealed that the agency opted for the breakage of the buildings instead of outright demolition using bulldozers because of the location of most of the structures. According to sources close to the agency, using heavy duty machines to demolish the buildings may affect houses beside the ones demolished.
