36000 buildings may collapse in Lagos

The Building Collapse Prevention Guild on Monday said about 36,000 potential buildings might soon collapse in Lagos State and other parts of the country.

BCPG’s President Mr Akinola George said this is due to the fact that most buildings in Lagos State are not constructed by the people who are properly trained to do so.

The BCPG said construction professionals have been sidelined in building construction as they participate in less than 20 per cent of the total volume of construction activities going on in the state.

“A survey revealed that over 45,000 sites existed at a time in Lagos State. Twenty per cent of this translates to 9,000. Hence, by deduction, quacks and other faceless characters by whatever names they are called are responsible for the remaining 80 per cent. A whopping 36,000 potential collapses are waiting to happen,” the group added.

The BCPG, an umbrella body of all construction professionals in the country, urged the Lagos State Government to pay serious attention to buildings in Lagos Island, Oworoshoki/Bariga, Somolu, Ebute Meta, Mushin, Ajegunle, among others, to identify all precariously standing buildings.

The body advised  the government to set up a high-powered committee, comprising government officials and private sector professionals, which would employ the Lagos State Material Testing Laboratory to check the integrity of buildings in these areas,” it said.