Lagos State government on Monday, in its continuous effort to bring sanity to the construction sector, especially along the waterfront corridor, sealed a property belonging to Mikano International Limited due to an alleged disobedience to its order stopping further construction on the site.

The property, an eight-floor building under construction located along Queens’ Drive, was sealed during a joint inspection exercise conducted by the Commissioner for Waterfront Infrastructure Development, Ekundayo Alebiosu, and his counterpart in Physical Planning and Urban Development, Dr. Olumide Olayinka.

The commissioners frowned at the total disregard for constituted authority and disregard for the government’s order, which restrained further construction on the site by its owner.

The duo disclosed that the state government had earlier issued a “Stop Work Notice” on the site for its owner to provide necessary documents regarding the government’s approval for the project, even as they corrected the notion that the government had been ignoring those flouting the laws because of the calibre of those involved.

According to the Commissioner for Waterfront Infrastructure Development, Mr Alebiosu, “government cannot be aiding those who were flouting the law and still ask us to go out and do what we are doing here, it is a process.”

He said several petitions and complaints had been received by the state government, necessitating the need for them to visit the site “to test the veracity of those claims.”

“We have received several petitions and complaints, and that is why I am here with my counterpart, Commissioner for Physical Planning, to test the veracity of those claims.

“Although serious enforcement will start soon, we issued this person stop work order two weeks ago, but they disobeyed, but we are here today and we saw them still working. So we had to stop them again, and you can see that they have obeyed that order. We are expecting them to provide all the necessary documents regarding government’s approval for the project,” the commissioner said.

“These people also need to go to the Ministry of Environment for their drainage application. They need their EIA, TIA from Transport, their surveys and some other things to get approvals. They cannot just jump on site and start construction, these are some of the infractions our ministry and Physical Planning have discovered from those applying for approvals,” he added.

On his part, the State Commissioner for Physical Planning and Urban Development, Dr. Olayinka, said his office was resolved to come heavily on defaulters, disclosing that quit notices would be served and demolition would follow.

“As you can see, we’ve gone round today, the laws of Lagos Physical Planning states that all developments need to be approved before you can commence any construction and not only that, you need our input in terms of certifying stages.

“Most of the structures you see along the waterway do not have approval, that is why we are marking them. Those one that we have identified to have extended beyond the approval given, we shall compel them to comply.

“However, there’s going to be a joint exercise among the relevant ministries, physical planning and waterfront, especially. We’re going to come out very heavily on this corridor and I mean it, very heavily. We’re going to compel them to abide by the law,” he said.

“So I’m using this opportunity to warn those in this habit to stop, they should just go and do the right thing. Again, we’re going to come out very heavily, quit notices will be served and demolition will follow,” he vowed. (Nigerian Tribune)

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